From the referendum on autonomy to the regionals, what lies behind the rapprochement between Schlein and Renzi
After the failure of the Third Pole, the former premier opted for the centre-left. More delicate is the position of Calenda, who has many former Fi members in Action, including Carfagna and Gelmini
by Emilia Patta
3' min read
3' min read
The National political team beating the National singing team. And that goal of the Pd secretary Elly Schlein on the assist of her predecessor and now leader of Italia Viva Matteo Renzi . Evidence of a wide, very wide field in view of the next political elections? The photo of the embrace between the former rottamatore who, as secretary of the PD and premier, nominated the outsider Schlein in the 2014 European elections (he was not yet 40, she was not yet 30) could indeed mark a turning point in the construction of the now mythical wide field.
But let us proceed in order. If two clues make a suspect, three make a proof. After the wreckage of the Third pole political project due to the well-known 'character' and leadership ambition differences between Renzi and the leader of Action Carlo Calenda, the former premier put two and two together: in a system that has become bipolar again, given that the downsizing of the M5s at the Europeans (9.9% compared to the more than 24% taken by the PD) forces Giuseppe Conte to remain anchored to the Dem boat, the space for a liberal-democratic pole that is an alternative to the centre-right and centre-left is not there. And the voters behave accordingly, opting for the so-called useful vote: at the European elections on 9 June last, Italia Viva and Più Europa, presented together in the list Stati Uniti d'Europa, did not exceed the 4% threshold even though on paper they had around 6%. And since Renzi, in spite of the various restraints that have been chasing him for years, as former secretary of the PD has never considered the hypothesis of joining the centre-right, there is only one road left: the coalition with the PD.
Emblematic is the historic photo that on 5 July portrayed former Renzian minister and plenipotentiary Maria Elena Boschi together with the various centre-left leaders (Schlein, Conte, Nicola Fratoianni and Angelo Bonelli of Avs and Riccardo Magi of Più Europa) and the Cisl secretary Maurizio Landini on the occasion of the filing with the Supreme Court of Cassation of the question for the total repeal of the Calderoli law on differentiated autonomy. Little does it matter that, if it comes to the referendum in the spring of 2025, Italians will at the same time also be called upon to express their opinion on the renzo Jobs Act that Schlein wants to cancel. It should be pointed out that, even before the European elections, Renzi had already spoken out against the hated (by the PD) Caselati Ddl on the direct election of the premier ('a lousy reform') despite the fact that this direct election was in the Third Pole's programme at the last political elections.
Another clue: the resumption of direct contacts between Schlein and Renzi after the European elections, which gave the unequivocal signal that the PD can only see the possibility of returning to Palazzo Chigi in the future if all the oppositions - from the M5s precisely to Renzi - present themselves united: the PD needs a 'leg' of the centre, Renzi needs the PD. "Renzi is a politician, he has understood, Calenda still does not," Schlein recently confided to Augusto Minzolini in Tempo.
Yes, Calenda. Favourable to the repeal of the Calderoli law, he has kept away from the group photo. And then there are the autumn regional elections: if the leader of Azione does not seem to have any problems supporting the Pd candidate Michele De Pascale to succeed Stefano Bonaccini in Emilia Romagna together with all the other parties of the wide field (including, of course, the renzian Italia Viva), in Umbria, in the face of a Renzi who is also in the game here, there seems to be some resistance on the possible candidate of the wide field Stefania Proietti, mayor of Assisi. Whatever the outcome of the Umbrian game, for Calenda the choice of camp in favour of the centre-left led by the PD with the M5s also in it is more problematic: many ex-Forzisti have joined Action, starting with former ministers Mara Carfagna and Maria Stella Gelmini. All of them ready to return to the parent company in the event of a turn to the left.
