Raffaele De Rosa to run again for the Ticino government

Raffaele De Rosa, head of the Department of Health and Social Affairs, has announced that he will run again in the cantonal elections in April. He was the last outgoing member of the Council of State who had not yet said whether he would seek another term. The announcement came on Thursday evening in Bellinzona, during the cantonal committee meeting of the Centre party, which backs him, and was met with a standing ovation from those present.

De Rosa said he had seriously considered stepping down. «Ho pensato seriamente di mollare» (in English: I seriously thought about giving up), he said, «ma se abbandonassi proprio adesso non me lo perdonerei mai» (in English: but if I gave up right now, I would never forgive myself). Speaking to SEIDISERA, he explained that he had needed time to make the decision, partly because his family suffered a bereavement in early October.

De Rosa added that he had thought about the two difficult terms he had just lived through, but concluded that, especially in difficult times, it is important to make oneself available again without expecting anything in return. He said he wanted to give citizens the chance to choose, and that he was approaching his new candidacy with a sense of calm.

The Territory chapter

In October, De Rosa had tried to move to head the Department of Territory, an area he described as consistent with his professional background at the regional, cantonal and federal levels. He stressed, however, that a member of the Council of State must be ready to take on any department, and he backed the government's decision of 7 October to keep changes to a minimum in order to ensure continuity and stability in the last six months of the current term. According to De Rosa, it was right for every government member to set aside personal ambitions in this situation.

The rest of the Centre's list for the government will be announced on 10 December, at the party's cantonal committee meeting. De Rosa, who has headed the Department of Health and Social Affairs since 2019, joins the other outgoing councillors of state who have already confirmed they will run again: Marina Carobbio-Guscetti for the Socialist Party, Norman Gobbi for the Lega and Piero Marchesi for the UDC, who recently took over from Claudio Zali. Christian Vitta of the PLR, by contrast, will not run again; his party's list was made public on Wednesday.