The broad coalition should hold primaries to decide how to run the primaries. A round-up of many (and confused) ideas

To do or not to do. Political candidate or foreign Pope. The programme first or the programme later. To be or not to be. The open primaries to decide who will lead the progressive coalition in next year’s elections are a real grind. So many ideas, so much chaos. Debates, interviews. There’s no agreement on the procedures, no consensus on the names. Just confusion. So much so that we’d need to hold primaries on how to run the primaries. Paradoxes.

The contest has always been put off until ‘after the summer’, but September begins next week and the left still hasn’t got its act together (perhaps not even a team). Today, adding to the multitude of rumours, is Roberto Speranza, who explains in the Corriere that doing so would be “a spectacular own goal” and that, in the elections – should the electoral law currently being drafted, which requires the name of a prime ministerial candidate to be included, be passed – “it would suffice to make a symbolic choice, such as a newly turned 18-year-old or an elderly partisan”. A round-up, several issues.

The first, which Speranza also mentions: to do it or not to do it. The go-ahead for the primary contest came months ago. It was 23 March 2026 when, from the headquarters of the Five Star Movement in Via Campo Marzio, Rome, President Giuseppe Conte gave the go-ahead. The secretary of the PD, Elly Schlein, had been in favour for months, as had her party: primaries are the backbone of the Democratic Party (which is why the former Health Minister’s statements are unlikely to have gone down well within the PD).

And, gradually, the entire progressive camp had become convinced that they should coordinate their efforts to hold a contest in the autumn, given that Conte himself, over the course of the months, had nevertheless repeatedly emphasised that this was not the only way to choose a leader: “An agreement can be reached by identifying the most competitive candidate, as in regional elections.” The Green and Left Alliance, however, has always turned up its nose at the idea. Bonelli and Fratoianni have always treated the matter as a secondary priority. And indeed, they have always attached one condition to the hypothetical race to choose a leader: the manifesto must come first.

Well, this brings us to the second issue. Over time, all the Campolarghista factions have always agreed (at least on the surface) that the contest should take place after the programme has been drawn up. There were even two events organised on this theme. Subsequently, the two events were reduced to just one, in Naples – to call it a flop would be an understatement (recall the protests from the left-wing PaP and the unemployed?).

Well, Giuseppe Conte has once again brought this issue to the fore. In an interview with "La Stampa", the Five Star Movement leader had explained that certain policy issues on which positions differ (there are many, but that is another matter) would be resolved through the primaries: in short, the leader first, then the programme. In the days that followed, Schlein, Bonelli and Fratoianni all brought the matter back on track: the programme first, then the choice of leader. And the debate ended there.

But there is no programme, and no date has been announced for drawing one up. And the prospects are slim. But let’s move on to the third issue: given that "the programme comes first", how does one vote? Because within the alliance there is a political force that sees online voting as the mechanism through which to present its own proposal. The Five Star Movement, once again, is standing in the way and, over the last few months, has called for the selection of the leader of the broad coalition to take place online, whilst the PD (again, for historical reasons) would prefer polling stations.

There is no agreement either on a single, straight-run election or on a run-off: if there are more than two candidates, it might be useful to consolidate the votes. And finally, who gets to vote? Party members? Is the choice open to everyone? On these two issues too, Schlein and Conte – as has emerged over the past few months – are at odds: the former would like a more limited electorate, whilst the latter – who is ‘showing off’ by riding the anti-woke wave – would prefer a vote open to all citizens.

But the fundamental question – the fourth one – is: who to vote for? There is no agreement on the number of candidates, nor even on who they should be. Will there be just one per party? One per political group? Schlein and Conte will, in all likelihood, be two unavoidable names, whilst Avs – emphasising yet again that they are not the priority – has made it known that it is ready, and Nicola Fratoianni’s name is being mentioned (if not Francesca Albanese’s).

Renzi: what will he do? Given that it is still unclear whether he will be an integral part of the progressive coalition, the leader of Italia Viva has not ruled out standing as a candidate himself, despite having repeatedly stated that his party will field a candidate. Still on the centre-left, Riccardo Magi of +Europa has put himself forward as a candidate, highlighting an increasingly evident internal split within the party. Benedetto Della Vedova and Matteo Hallissey have tempered the enthusiasm, explaining that his proposal was made on a personal basis and “does not represent the party”.

And it is precisely on the subject of names that we come to a fifth issue: civic projects and a third-party candidate. Alongside the big names in the broad coalition, several civic movements have emerged over recent months that will be seeking their place in the primaries. Alessandro Onorato, who is notoriously not very fond of Renzi, has announced that "Progetto Civico Italia" will run under his name. Among the movement’s members is the Mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, who is proposing the very ‘Naples model’ as a basis for resolving differences between the parties on the left: focusing on the substance of issues to create a ‘modern Olive Tree coalition’.

And so we come to another female mayor, Silvia Salis. Courted by all, her name has often been floated as a way of bringing the various parties together. Renzi is keeping a closer eye on her than anyone else. Were it not for the fact that she has clearly stated she is not interested in standing for election (although it seems something is afoot). Finally, there is Ernesto Maria Ruffini: the former director of the Revenue Agency announced last week that on 10 October he will present a centre-left political project. Something which, judging by his stance, seems to be more aligned with Italia Viva.

In short: there is no agreement on rules, names or figures. There is no programme – the essential prerequisite. Perhaps the drive is missing too. Virtually everything is missing. September is just around the corner and every political force will kick off its election campaign with a different event: Renzi’s Leopolda (2–4 October), Giuseppe Conte’s Nova (19–20 September), and Terra!, the festival of the Alliance of Greens and the Left (6–13 September). Then, on 20 September, the provincial ‘Festa dell’Unità’ will draw to a close in Bologna. All the leading figures from the broad coalition will be present, together for the first time since the fiasco in Naples. Unless, once again, they intend to hold primaries on how to conduct primaries, they need to accelerate the process. Quickly.