April cantonal elections: PLR team aims to double its seats

Ticino's Liberal-Radical Party (PLR) has finalised its list of candidates for the April cantonal elections. As first reported by the Corriere del Ticino, the party's goal is to double its representation and regain the relative majority, after Christian Vitta's decision not to run again.

Alongside Alex Farinelli, who had already announced his candidacy in July, are four other names chosen to cover the canton's different regions: Cristina Maderni, Omar Pedrini, Samuel Maffi and Nicola Pini. The official presentation of the list and its ratification are scheduled for November, at the party's cantonal committee meeting in Bellinzona.

Who are the candidates

Farinelli, currently a member of the National Council, will represent the Lugano area together with Cristina Maderni, a member of the cantonal parliament and vice-president of the Ticino Chamber of Commerce. Locarno's mayor, Nicola Pini, is according to the party the figure best placed to achieve the doubling of the Liberal-Radical representation. Samuel Maffi, a member of Mendrisio's municipal executive, is running for the Mendrisiotto area, while Omar Pedrini, president of the Ticino Farmers' Union, will represent the valleys.

Farinelli and Pini are not new faces for the party: both already featured on the PLR's list in 2015. Their renewed candidacy, alongside three new candidates, shapes a team that combines established political experience with profiles rooted in the territory, from the business world to agriculture.