Eighteen years ago, she was told she was the wrong person for the job: a woman, and the daughter of an entrepreneur at that, tasked with handling the industrial contract. Her reply: «Now I’ll show you».
This morning, delegates at the 5th Congress unanimously confirmed her as secretary general of USL, on a proposal by president Pancrazio Raimondo.
Raimondo based his proposal on two points.
The first is a USL that is «for the first time so present in the public eye, on social media and visible throughout the country».
The second is «what I consider an extraordinary team». Then, resuming his role as president, he asked the delegates to raise their hands. No one voted against.
«I rarely get emotional», Busignani began, «but not because I don’t feel it inside».
Facing the warmth of the room, she praised a congress capable of blending speeches, videos and lighter moments: «Who else has ever put together a congress like this in San Marino?».
The tiny office.
Eighteen years ago, she recalled, they worked “in a tiny room, maybe five by four metres, with a single desk”. To those who deemed her unfit for the role, she responded with the same stubbornness she showed in elementary school, when a teacher told her that the left hand was “the devil’s hand” and that she had to write with her right: «I became left-handed».
The rest, she said, was down to her father — an entrepreneur “with a capital E” — who started out “carrying gas cylinders on his back” and taught her to stand by people’s side the right way, “without being extremist about it”.
«Have I made mistakes? Yes, many times», she admitted. But every time, picking herself back up, she understood where she had gone wrong.
Two numbers, then a different speech.
To those who, the day before, had asked her how many delegates there were, she answered without naming names: over two hundred, and forty speeches. Then she moved on: «I don’t want to start with that speech, I want to start with another one».
One of thanks to the team, including those who work far from the microphone.
And one about a method: constant training — “the kind you do out on the street every day” — and a union that speaks «with people, not about people».
She closed by asking the delegates: «Do we want to keep going down this road?».
