From Basilicata to Piedmont, now the centrists Renzi and Calenda are dealing the cards. Here's why

The never-born Third Pole has taken advantage of the result in Basilicata and has raised its sights on the two alignments, hoping to reshuffle the cards in view of the European elections, where the 4% threshold will be a test of truth. On 8 and 9 June Action and Iv will go separate ways, but in the meantime they have put in their sights the Pd, which in Basilicata has allied itself with the M5s, and also the centre-right forces, from which Matteo Renzi and Carlo Calenda hope to take away votes, perhaps fishing in the moderates of Forza Italia or the disgruntled Lega.

In Basilicata, both Action and Orgoglio lucano, where Iv converged, took more than 7%. A substantial result (considering that between the centre-right candidate Vito Bardi and the progressive one Piero Marrese there are 14 points), but on which two factors have an impact: the smallness of the electoral basin - 280 thousand voted - and the weight of Marcello Pittella, the second most voted councillor, who dragged Action. 'In Basilicata we win in the centre,' Renzi tweeted, 'Bardi chose us and won. The Pd chose the M5s and lost. Everything else is boredom'.

The centre forces are being carefully watched, especially for two short-term appointments: in view of the motion of no-confidence against the governor Michele Emiliano, scheduled for 7 May, in Puglia the intentions of the three councillors of Azione are being watched, even if they do not seem decisive. While in Piedmont - where Pd and M5s are running divided - the moves of Iv, which seems oriented towards the centre-left, and Azione, which seems to be aiming at the outgoing centre-right governor, Alberto Cirio, are awaited.

In the progressive area, however, the defeat in Basilicata made an already rather problematic period more complicated. The M5s came out of the polls downsized: 7% against 20% in 2019. While in the PDD, which took home 13.9%, the secretary Elly Schlein has to deal with the repercussions of the divisions on the symbol and with the bad feelings for the alliances, fuelled by Giuseppe Conte's tirade on the Stability Pact: "I cannot understand why the M5S has remained alone in voting against an agreement that cuts the legs off the growth of Europe and Italy". The M5s president explicitly mentioned the government forces, but the exit sounded like a criticism of the Pd's abstention as well.