Mancini (PD): “Forget the primaries. The broad coalition must stand united in the streets against the Stabilicum”

“Forget the primaries. The centre-left must protest against the electoral law and draw up a counter-budget.” Claudio Mancini, a PD MP and a leading figure in Rome’s centre-left, puts forward two proposals to Il Foglio. We find him in Greece, where the solar eclipse was barely visible. On the other hand, he has found refuge in the life and thought of Palmiro Togliatti, as compiled for Einaudi by Beppe Vacca. “It’s a refresher on the basics,” Mancini remarks professionally, adding that he is “surprised that the centre-left takes the approval of the electoral law for granted: the first issue on which the government has been defeated throughout this parliamentary term. This political issue has been shelved far too soon.” The amendments have not yet been tabled in the Senate, Mancini points out, “so the agreement reached by the majority at the moment seems more like a token agreement designed to ensure a peaceful Ferragosto.” And so here is the call to action: “We, as the opposition, should be planning a large public demonstration outside the Senate in the week the electoral law comes before the chamber, to denounce, above all, the absurdity of the majority bonus and the fact that a coalition risks having the numbers to make decisions on its own regarding the fundamental structure of the judiciary and the election of the President of the Republic from the fourth ballot onwards”.

An anti-Stabilicum demonstration, according to the MP’s proposal, drawing on the spirit of the protests organised by the broad coalition in support of the referendum on justice. After all, the legislative process still has a long way to go. In September, it will be debated in the Senate, then it will return to the Chamber of Deputies for a final secret ballot. “There will also need to be a ruling from the Constitutional Court, which had already rejected the 55 per cent bonus for the winning coalition.” This is why, according to Mancini, “if Meloni pushes this manipulation of the electoral law through to the end, she is doing so to call an election in February, before the Constitutional Court issues its ruling”. However, first-term MPs will only meet the social security requirements on 14 April next year – four years and six months after the start of the parliamentary term – and holding an election before that date will not be straightforward. “It’s true that most of the MPs in question are from FdI, but I don’t think Meloni will drag things out for two more months for that reason. In fact, she’d boast about it,” says Mancini. “Once the electoral law and then the budget law have been approved at the end of December, she’d have no reason to drag things out.” And this is where the centre-left should be thinking more carefully. “The relationship between the programme and the primaries is like that between the chicken and the egg. They inevitably go hand in hand. I think Italians are more interested in our counter-budget proposal. In recent years,” he says, “we have put forward key common elements, but here we can take a qualitative leap forward and present a genuine alternative budget proposal.”

The idea, therefore, is to present citizens with a section of the opposition’s programme that is not only important but also more accessible. What should it contain? “It would be a summary of the proposals put forward in recent years, from the minimum wage to healthcare, but also support for businesses and local authorities. We’ve written the script; now we need to think about the film.” There’s a whole summer to direct it. In the meantime, there’s the casting issue. Mancini clears the air on the question of third-place candidates for the primaries. There’s been a lot of talk recently about Manfredi and Salis, and sometimes even Gualtieri. “I don’t know about the others, but as for Roberto, we cannot downplay the importance of his commitment to Rome. He is entirely focused on his re-election at the Campidoglio.” And then there are the reformists who accuse the PD of kowtowing to the M5S. “Within our coalition, everyone has their own autonomy. Conte is a good ally if he brings consensus, and the same applies to everyone else. Within a framework of mutual loyalty and solidarity.” After all, he adds, “finding unity on every single clause of the manifesto is a Herculean task and not even fair. Voters, at the end of the day, vote for individual parties, even if they’re part of a coalition.”