Mirabelli votes for Calabresi – a stone thrown into the PD’s pond

A rather large stone thrown into the pond. The concentric ripples that spread out across what remains, however, a narrow stretch of water, and one that has long been still. The large stone in the pond of Milan’s centre-left was thrown by Franco Mirabelli, from the bed to which severe ALS has confined him for some time now. A PD senator, vice-president of the Democratic Party, leading figure in Area Dem, Dario Franceschini’s right-hand man in the North, an expert on the minutest details of Milan and its province, and a supporter of Elly Schlein from the very beginning. A man who has been at the heart of politics beneath the Madonnina and who demonstrates, with great fortitude, that he is still very much in the game. Not least because the rest is an awkward silence, the result of a diktat from Rome to wait for developments at national level – delivered by Igor Taruffi, the man Schlein sent to calm tempers. What is to be done? Do we take action? Or do we hold our ground? Are we really kicking off the campaign for the primaries? And what if, in the end, there are no primaries because the dates will be conveniently arranged so that, after the national primaries (the request was to separate the two stages, postponing the local ones – assuming they take place at all), there is no longer enough time to hold them? And anyway: who actually wants these primaries, apart from the candidates themselves? In the face of all these unknowns, Franco Mirabelli devotes an entire day to crafting his response. Drawing on his own intelligence and willpower, he looks intently at the page and composes, letter by letter, his reply to the Corriere’s questions. A long, detailed, political reply. One that has a first name and a surname: Mario Calabresi. He supports Mario Calabresi. A problem for Schlein. For various reasons. One is that Mirabelli has been a supporter of hers, and is clearly becoming a symbol of one of the most important civil battles – the one on end-of-life issues (by the way: what is Marco Cappato waiting for to form a joint venture?). Can Schlein let Mirabelli down? Mirabelli’s support was well known, but his public statement lays the foundation and urges others to follow suit, each in support of their own candidate. And it is no coincidence that – within a matter of hours – Alessandra Kustermann, a former candidate in the 2012 Lombardy regional primaries which she lost, has come forward.

Kustermann supports Pierfrancesco Majorino, and this, too, is no secret. The news is not about the alignments, but the fact that Mirabelli’s stone has sent ripples through the pond. And that the reaction has been to throw another stone. Whether this means the rest of the party will start to stir, or whether the surface will return to stillness, remains to be seen. Moreover, next week it’s a new round, a new dance: Pierfrancesco Majorino is launching his candidacy. There’s fresh hype surrounding the primaries and the contest. In this regard, the two main candidates seem to be each other’s best allies. Then there are the details, and there’s far more to it than meets the eye.

For example: assuming there are primaries, will the PD allow any of its members to stand as a candidate? So, Majorino, Pacini and Scavuzzo? Or will it say there is only one candidate? And if so, how would this candidate be chosen? More primaries, for fans of recursive structures? Will the secretary choose and ‘upload’ the name, and if they lose, will there be trouble? Will they settle it with a game of canasta? What do the other parties at the centre-left table in Milan – namely the AVS and the M5S – think? Because the various interviews do not reveal particularly strong opinions on the idea of a contest ahead of the actual elections. Meanwhile, in Rome, some are already going around with an abacus: so many lead candidates, so many seats to be won through preferential votes. There are even those dreaming of becoming a minister in the next Schlein-Conte government. It really is true that beneath the surface of this pond, there are still plenty of fish. And they’re very voracious.