At the Festa dell’Unità, Guerini prioritises the programme ahead of the primaries, whilst Calabresi awaits a broad coalition.

Talk about the elephant in the room. At the Festa dell’Unità in Lodi, which on Sunday evening hosted the event’s organiser Lorenzo Guerini and the likely candidate for mayor of Milan, Mario Calabresi, many topics were discussed: the crisis of democracy, the AfD’s results in Germany, Trump’s America, and the EU’s difficulty in being perceived – from Iceland to Saxony-Anhalt – as an opportunity rather than a nuisance.

However sincerely passionate the two speakers appeared in setting out their vision of the world, of Europe and of democracy, two questions hung in the air inside the debate hall. Calabresi: is he standing for election? Is he not standing? And if he is standing, will he go through the primaries or give them a wide berth? And then, this ‘Campo Largo’ initiative – is it going ahead or not? And if it does go ahead, on what basis? And under whose leadership? And if common ground and shared leadership are found, will it hold up?

The questions everyone is asking themselves are skilfully saved for last by the moderator, Agnese Pini, editor-in-chief of Quotidiano Nazionale. She then asks Guerini whether it is possible to envisage a governing coalition – or even just an electoral one – between parties that do not seem to be able to agree on a key issue such as foreign policy. ‘Difficult,’ one might say. Possible, but provided there is a common and mutual willingness, replies Guerini. “Discussion is the very essence of politics. Doing politics means discussing issues, not one person deciding and the others simply following suit. We discuss and reach a consensus. Among the parties in the broad coalition – which I personally prefer to call the centre-left – there are already points of common ground on many issues. Others, however, need to be discussed. My view is that this discussion on the manifesto should take place before the primaries. Otherwise, we risk leaving it to the primaries to draft the manifesto. And that would certainly be divisive.” For Guerini, therefore, the manifesto comes before the vote count. “This is why we need a discussion conducted with seriousness, responsibility and generosity. And whilst it is only natural that the largest party in the coalition – namely the PD – should be generous on many issues, we cannot expect it to be the only one making concessions.”

A broad approach, yes, but with discretion, then.

And what about Calabresi? Will he be the leader of the broad – or very broad indeed (including Calenda and Picerno) – coalition in Milan? The former editor-in-chief of Chora Media says he is ‘waiting respectfully’, much like everyone else in the city. Calabresi is waiting to see what will happen within the city’s deeply divided left-wing camp. And what will happen, essentially, is that it will become clear whether there will be a primary election or whether, instead, a direct agreement will be reached on his candidacy.

But whilst he waits respectfully, Calabresi lets his mind wander and is already trying to imagine the sort of candidate and mayor he would like to be: “In my work as a journalist, I have always tried to listen, to gather and to tell people’s stories. I have tried to ensure that this has been my hallmark. And I would like it to continue to be so in the future too.”