Milan, 26 May (LaPresse) – ‘The slump in turnout in Venice is crazy… And Martella’s lead over Venturini is astonishing; it’s never happened before,’ says Massimo Cacciari, philosopher and former mayor of Venice, in an interview with Corriere della Sera. "All the polls suggested it was a close race. And then Venice was the only place in Veneto where the ‘No’ vote had won in the March referendum. So I’d say that centre-left voters didn’t turn out this time, especially the young people – he says – The centre-left, after my terms in office, committed one suicide after another. Remember Felice Casson? Instead of backing the young Venetian talent in the PD, in 2014 they chose to put him forward as a candidate and the centre-right won with Brugnaro. And now with Martella, here we go again: I’ve known Martella for ages; he’s nothing particularly terrible, but he’s a young old man, a pure politician, with a career as the eternal number two, number three – once in Veltroni’s wake, another time in Orlando’s, yet another in Bersani’s. In short, that’s not how you generate enthusiasm among voters. We needed a different sort of figure, like Salis in Genoa. My nephew Tommaso, for instance, would have got more votes than Martella."