The prevailing view within the PD: Manfredi, Gualtieri or someone who can broaden the party’s appeal. Don’t tell Elly

What follows is not an official document from the PD. It is far more interesting: it is the document that the PD will never write. It is the line of thinking circulating in the corridors, in chat groups, in phone calls, in conversations that begin with ‘naturally, we have full confidence in Elly’ and almost always end with the same question: are we really sure we should be holding these primaries? Translation from ‘Democratic’ to Italian: Elly, please, let’s not hold them. And here is the third thought that the PD is thinking but not saying: perhaps the best candidate is neither Schlein nor Conte. Perhaps his name is Roberto Gualtieri. Perhaps Gaetano Manfredi. Perhaps he’ll have another name. The point isn’t the two mayors as such. The point is what they represent. Gualtieri governs Rome – a city that for years seemed designed to destroy the reputation of anyone who tried to govern it. Manfredi governs Naples; he brings together different worlds, speaks to the centre-left without scaring off the centre, and to the centre without provoking a permanent uproar on the left. Both remind the PD of something the PD occasionally forgets: voters may even reward those who prove they know how to govern. And what do we do instead? We organise a ‘leadership festival’. In other words: we’re spreading ourselves too thin. And the primaries between Schlein and Conte would risk doing exactly the opposite. Such a contest would have its own inevitable logic. Who is more opposed to Meloni? Who is more of a pacifist? Who takes a harder line against rearmament? Who promises more spending? Who can prove they are further to the left than the other? The race to choose the candidate destined to win over the centre would become a race to win over the campaign stall. One could win magnificently on Sunday and start losing on Monday. That is why a simple, almost banal idea is taking hold within the PD: perhaps this time the candidate could be chosen on the basis of their ability to win. Without primaries? Heresy. Without crowning the PD secretary? Sacrilege. Without granting Conte the natural right to contest the final? Provocation.

The message to Schlein, on the other hand, would be far less dramatic: dear Elly, you’re acting as secretary; you don’t necessarily have to be a candidate for Prime Minister as well. If we find someone more competitive, it’s a victory for you, not a defeat. And above all, we’re under no obligation to hand Conte a contest in which he can challenge the leadership of the coalition’s leading party. The PD has spent years wondering how to become competitive again. Now that it might be able to do so, it should avoid falling for the most elegant way of complicating its own life. Ultimately, the underlying thought is simply this: we can win. Let’s try not to ruin everything with the primaries.

Text generated by AI