Silvia Salis had said there would be no primaries. However, something is changing

Silvia Salis is giving it some thought. She hasn’t yet decided whether to stand in the primaries, if there are to be any, but a situation is taking shape around her that makes the possibility less of a distant prospect. Her book tour is raising her profile. Matteo Renzi would like her to stand (but Salis does not want to be Renzi’s candidate), whilst Alessandro Onorato is said to have promised to make his civic network available to her. Several mayors are looking with interest at a candidacy capable of resonating beyond the confines of the PD.

Within the PD, there is a faction ready to back her at the campaign stands. It remains to be explained why she has changed her tune since the interview with Fabio Fazio, when she had ruled out standing for election. But in the meantime, a new development has emerged: Vannacci. His rise could become the justification for a different choice – not as a matter of personal ambition, but as a response to a changed political landscape. Perhaps in the realisation that once an opportunity has passed, it may not come round a second time.