Prodi: 'The centre-left? Let's hope he doesn't get Bertinottite". The former RCP leader: 'He's got it tied on his finger'

after his criticism of the 'centre-left that has turned its back on Italy', was there also a clarifying phone call with the PD secretary? 'Yes, Schlein called me. We have spoken often in recent weeks. I reiterated what I had said in public. My concern is that part of the electorate is moving away from the centre-left because it believes that from the opposition comes too narrow an interpretation of society, which is not sufficient for a concrete government alternative'. These are some passages from an interview with Corriere della Sera by the founder of the Ulivo Romano. The former prime minister and former president of the EU Commission then reasoned on the holding of the broad camp. He did so by pointing out that 'in Conte's mind it is not yet defined what he thinks his role is'. Then the lunge: 'If the centre-left comes out the winner of the policies, let's hope it doesn't get Bertinottite. In the end one of the two leaders, between Schlein and Conte, will have to recognise that the other has won. But first, well before that, we need a broad coalition model, with a programme capable of intercepting an audience that goes beyond the current boundaries'.

"Bertinottite? It's an obsession...' replied Fausto Bertinotti, former leader of the RCP, speaking on L'Aria che Tira in response to Prodi's interview that called him out. Did Prodi have it on his finger? "Not me, he did," he replied. "If we have spoken? A few times, very rarely. It's not a great warmth..." "But since I know that Prodi has confidential relations with the United States," he suggested, also ironising on another passage of the interview that concerned the new mayor of New York, "I would tell him that instead of having Bertinotti's nightmare, have Mamdani's dream and go and see what programme he won with.

In 1998, Rifondazione Comunista (Communist Refoundation), led by Bertinotti, voted against the financial manoeuvre for 1999, considering the social framework unacceptable and calling for corrections in favour of the poor and against inequality. On 9 October 1998, the Prodi I government fell after losing a confidence question in the Chamber of Deputies (312 votes in favour, 313 against), precisely because the RCP had withdrawn its external support.