The results have thrown a spanner in the works for Schlein, who is rediscovering her mayors

She is fanning the discontent among women in the ruling coalition over the Melonellum, pinning her hopes once again on the mavericks in the Chamber of Deputies. But in the meantime, Elly Schlein – or Elena? “Whichever you prefer” – is preparing her counter-move, sending messages to her mayors and rallying them to action.

The PD secretary calls them “a scam”, but the preferences – even in the scaled-down version devised by the centre-right – will have an impact on her plans: on the candidate lists and on her strategies. It is therefore time to do the maths: this is also why Schlein has announced an initiative involving all PD mayors (and others) in Verona. The date circled in red is 22 November, a few days before the ANCI assembly – led by Gaetano Manfredi, the ‘anti-primaries’ mayor – which will be held in the same Venetian capital (from 24 to 26 November). It is a similar scenario to the one that unfolded last November in Bologna, when the party secretary brought together her local leaders for the first time – including Manfredi himself. It will be another opportunity to launch an attack on the Budget Bill, which will be in full swing during those very days. And then, above all, to engage with and send a signal to the Democratic Party’s mayors (and there are quite a few) who periodically return to demand a more central role. This renewed focus on mayors? “It would have been better to act even earlier and not end up here out of contrariness,” smiles Virginio Merola, speaking to Il Foglio. He quotes the singer-songwriter, drawing on the great Francesco Guccini. “Well, I think it’s a positive development,” adds the PD MP, who served as mayor of Bologna from 2011 to 2021. On the other hand, with the ‘Melonellum’, to a certain extent, voters will be able to indicate their preferences, and this applies more to the stronger parties, such as the PD and FdI, which will manage to get a few more candidates elected alongside the (fixed) lead candidate. In this particular context, mayors can prove more effective than the usual party loyalists. “They are the ones who know the local area better than anyone else. And then,” continues Merola, “they are specialists in primaries, which now seem inevitable.” Incidentally: yesterday, Franco Grabrielli told SkyTg 24 that he would vote for Ernesto Maria Ruffini at the polling booths, but between Schlein and Conte he would choose the former. The vote of this top police officer is an important one, but it is certainly not enough to secure leadership of the broad coalition. The Democratic Party secretary has said, “We will win the primaries.” However, it will require a collective effort from everyone, including those local leaders – not all of whom are exactly Schlein supporters – to whom the PD leader has sent signals and gestures of goodwill in recent days. She did so from Reggio Emilia, at the Festa dell’Unità, for example by speaking of “security and public order, which are the responsibility of the national government; they must stop passing the buck to the mayors”. Meanwhile, two days ago, in a surprise move, Schlein attended the event organised by Massimo D’Alema in Rome, alongside all the progressive mayors.

From the challenge to Meloni to the one with Conte, everything hinges on the Nazareno, where yesterday – following criticism that ‘it’s election propaganda’ – many began to question the Prime Minister’s true intentions: is the exemption from car tax for 2027 a move ahead of early elections? We need to speed things up. Against this backdrop, the usual unresolved issues remain. As well as the primaries (there are always those hoping for a third candidate) and the scope of the coalition (the acrimony between Renzi, the M5S and Onorato continues), there is the programme: next week, a Democratic Party leader reckons, “the first concrete signs could emerge, straight after Nova”. Nicola Fratoianni, from AVS, is a little more cautious: any timetable must be linked to the date of the general election, otherwise the risk “is that we’ll run out of steam”. The foreign policy unknown remains – arms for Kyiv – whilst Grillo’s return to the political scene is a cause for concern for the PD. Because Conte, to cover his back, may have to play his hand even higher still. Schlein, in any case, exudes optimism: “The differences? We’ll resolve them through discussion,” she replies, recalling the joint motion to overcome the EU veto. Then there is the draft bill tabled by the PD, AVS and M5S to halt trade from Israeli settlements, as well as a motion on the cost of living in the Senate. The Democrats are also reviving the issue of windfall profits. Meanwhile, yesterday Schlein rekindled her ties with Maurizio Landini by attending a SPI-CGIL conference in Cattolica. The race continues.