Primaries: Schlein stands firm – and the programme starts in September

Elly Schlein is not backing down on the primaries. Whilst within the PD there is a growing fear that a head-to-head contest with Giuseppe Conte would leave ‘more rubble than votes’, the line from the Nazareno remains clear: ‘Either we hold primaries, or whoever gets the most votes goes ahead’.

Even within circles close to Romano Prodi, efforts are reportedly being made to persuade both leaders to step aside, but the Democratic Party’s leadership’s stance remains unchanged. On the other side, the M5S nevertheless rules out the possibility that leadership could automatically go to the party with one more vote, and within Conte’s inner circle, the stance on the primaries remains just as unshakeable.

There is no shortage of proposals to avoid a head-on clash, but they remain weak. Roberto Speranza suggested backing a symbolic figure, ‘an 18-year-old or an elderly partisan’, a suggestion that drew more derision than support; behind this quip lies the “major faction” linked to Dario Franceschini and Andrea Orlando. Taking the opposite view is Lia Quartapelle, who defends the polling booths and describes the idea of avoiding them as “extremely damaging”, reviving the two-round system.

It is above all Stefano Bonaccini who is shifting the focus onto the method, setting out the path that will lead to September: first the manifesto must be drawn up, then, if necessary, there will be a series of public meetings, ‘or, as in all democracies around the world, the leading party appoints its leadership’.

A move which, according to the former governor, is urgent because ‘if we do not join forces, Meloni may go on holiday and return to Palazzo Chigi after the elections’. As for potential third-party candidates, names such as Giorgio Gori, Nicola Zingaretti, Silvia Salis, Gaetano Manfredi, Antonio Decaro and Pier Luigi Bersani are being bandied about, but none of them has secured the nomination.