Schlein’s ‘Festa dell’Unità’ and the (many) excluded

Those who are not invited are always in the wrong, but those who do not invite them are partly to blame. Romano Prodi? He will not be attending (he is with his grandchildren). Piero Fassino? Never contacted. Lia Quartapelle? Not her either. Alessandro Onorato? The centre is already occupied by Matteo Renzi. Carlo Calenda? Contacted at the last minute when it’s easy to get a refusal. Ernesto Maria Ruffini? Forgotten. Tell me who you (don’t) go with and I’ll tell you who you are. Since when is an actor like Elio Germano, with his documentary Il ritorno al tratturo, worth more than a former secretary of the DS? And what is this business about Schlein’s big announcement—the purchase of L’Unità? Says Sandra Zampa, Prodi’s spokesperson (don’t worry, she’ll be there): “The possible purchase of a newspaper strikes me as a load of rubbish.”

The Festa dell’Unità in Reggio Emilia is getting underway – the event that is supposed to take on Meloni, in theory the last one before the election – except that the ‘programme is on its way’ (as stated on the website) and Prodi is missing, which in the PD is a bit like not finding the Creator in the Sistine Chapel. In 2024 there was the Elly Schlein–Prodi embrace; in 2025 the Professor arrived to applause. This year he is giving it a miss. Was the Professor certain to attend? The official invitation arrived, but the Professor, we are told, “has just set off with his grandchildren”. In Bologna, the explanation is that this is an elegant, ‘noble father’-style way of not upsetting the family whilst still pitching his tent (another of Prodi’s famous phrases) outside the park, so as not to reveal his true thoughts. One might say that absences do not measure the health of a party – and that is certainly true – but they do reveal the PD’s direction and its ability to hold the party together. One of the thorns in the side of the Schlein leadership is its relationship with Israel, and it may be a coincidence – or perhaps not – but Fassino, the former secretary, former mayor of Turin and former Minister of Justice, who has always had the courage to defend Israel and Ukraine, has never been invited. Have they forgotten? Fassino replies: “Obviously, not everyone could go.” Not even a stool? And what about MP Lia Quartapelle, another PD figure who speaks out loud and clear against the Russians and the left wing that wants to have coffee with Putin? Quartapelle didn’t receive an invitation either. And why is Onorato missing – the leader who is supposed to build the centrist wing with the mayors, praised by Goffredo Bettini (don’t worry, Bettini isn’t there, but in his place will be Andrea Orlando, who will present the magazine Rinascita) – well, not even a single day for Onorato? It seems a legitimate choice: the centre is represented by Renzi, who has been entrusted with the gala evening alongside Dario Franceschini (incidentally, all the leaders of the broad coalition have sent a ‘public’ gesture of goodwill to Franceschini, but one was missing: that of the secretary). Furthermore, can Calenda be left out of a party, when Schlein, quite rightly, invited him to join the left in Il Foglio? They have been trying to get hold of him for the last two days and have suggested he speak on local issues, specifically Bologna. Let us look at another: Ernesto Maria Ruffini. He is not on the prestigious panel in Reggio Emilia, and that is a loss, if only for the laughs (he has a Wodehouse-style sense of irony). For Ruffini, it’s very simple: “They probably couldn’t find my phone number. Who knows how many people share my name.” And what about the other professor, another founding father of the Ulivo, Arturo Parisi – another figure, like Prodi, who has the freedom to think without fear of losing his seat? Invited? The professor replies: “No! Not in the slightest.”

The unmissable event will take place on 10 September when, alongside Marco Sarracino – the ‘Careca’ of the PD – actor Germano will take to the stage to discuss forgotten areas and Il Tratturo (the documentary film by Francesco Cordio). If we need all the figures from the broad political spectrum, perhaps it would have been better to build an ark rather than a film archive (Veltroni is also coming to speak about Allende). What does it take to win an election? Schlein is convinced that L’Unità, the daily newspaper, is needed, and even within the party there is a conviction that the big announcement she has promised can only be: ‘Comrades, we have a newspaper’. After all, it was the secretary herself who raised the matter and sought negotiations with the publisher Romeo. Two million euros are needed, but the PD has never been informed. Has such a massive undertaking – the purchase of a daily newspaper – ever been discussed by the executive committee? And, another question: do we need a newspaper to win the elections? The longest-serving yet youngest secretary of the PD, who launched her tenure with a video on Facebook, now loves print media. But does she have carte blanche from the PD? Sandra Zampa, who knows the media inside out and has seen the left change, lose its way and find itself again under Prodi, says: “I’d be concerned about communication on social media, where you get torn to shreds; I’d be concerned with raising awareness of the work – and a great deal of it – carried out by the PD’s MPs. I’ve heard, and continue to hear every day, that the PD should buy L’Unità, but who’s going to pay for the paper? How will it be distributed? How much will it cost? Who will keep it going after the elections? These are questions that deserve a party leadership meeting, a proper discussion.” While the newspaper’s launch is still pending, the only item on the programme that appears certain is the menu. In the meantime, we recommend the Gente di Mare restaurant in these uncertain times. The signature dish is monkfish with vegetables (15 euros). If you kiss it (the monkfish), you might just discover the third name in the broad coalition.