Renzi, Tabacci, Ruffini, Onorato and the others: three centres vying for a single place on the podium

The ship, solid as ever, remains that of Matteo Renzi: with his Italia Viva/Casa Riformista, which has two parliamentary groups as well as a nationwide network, is the centre that already exists at the heart of the broad political spectrum. But two other vessels have already set sail, for the time being to secure the ‘reduction’ in the number of signatures required from 6,000 to 1,500 per multi-member constituency, as provided for by the new regulations of Mel0nellum – which come into force in a few hours (the 15-day period following publication in the Official Gazette expires on Saturday 24 October) – we’ll see what happens later on.

Following the group’s small contingent in the Chamber of Deputies – comprising Senator Luigi Nave, on loan from the Five Star Movement, and the PSI emblem, on loan from Enzo Maraio, which enabled the ‘Progetto Civico Italia’ initiative led by Rome’s Councillor Alessandro Onorato to operate politically – Deputy Bruno Tabacci has finally made a move in the closing stages: his Centro Democratico, previously ‘on loan’ in the past to Emma Bonino and Luigi Di Maio to enable them to stand for election without having to collect signatures, has in the last few hours been the driving force behind the formation of a mini-group in the Chamber of Deputies comprising five MPs, which immediately applied to become a fully-fledged group, subject to authorisation by the Speaker of the Chamber, Lorenzo Fontana. The members are Tabacci himself, the three ‘Più Europa’ MPs Riccardo Magi, Benedetto Della Vedova and Luca Pastorino, and Aboubakar Soumahoro, who was elected with AVS and subsequently moved to the ‘Misto’ group following the judicial investigations involving his wife.

“The aim,” explains Magi, “is also to try to lodge an appeal regarding the provision on the collection of signatures included in the new electoral law.” The Melonellum stipulates, in fact, that only those who formed a group before 31 December 2025 are exempt from the requirement to collect signatures (Renzi’s Italia Viva, Calenda’s Azione and Maurizio Lupi’s Noi Moderati) and, according to Tabacci, ‘it is clear that this provision will be struck down by the Constitutional Court, given that laws cannot be retroactive’.

But the potential new group under Tabacci’s banner serves, above all, as a framework to give the Più Uno movement political traction Ernesto Maria Ruffini and Franco Gabrielli, who have just in the last few hours presented their programme and who intend to participate with their own candidate (Ruffini) in the centre-left primaries to select the candidate for Prime Minister. With an appeal: “I am addressing the leaders of the parties and movements that are not part of the broad PD-M5S-VS coalition: let us build the broadest possible coalition together to ensure the centre-left wins the next elections,” says Ruffini.

In fact, a single large centre rather than three smaller ones would be a sensible solution, particularly as the Melonellum system provides for the allocation of votes only to the first party falling below the 3 per cent threshold within coalitions. So, everyone with Renzi, then? Let’s keep calm and carry on. It is Tabacci and Magi who are putting up resistance, fearing that the former prime minister will cost more votes than he brings in. Above all, it is Onorato who is putting up resistance; with his ‘Progetto Civico Italia’ – launched under the auspices of M5S leader Giuseppe Conte and the Democrat Goffredo Bettini – he aims to position himself as the anti-Renzi figure within the broad coalition and aims to channel his votes towards Conte in the event of a run-off in the primaries.