Magi (Più Europa): “If Conte’s line prevails within the broad coalition, we won’t be part of it. Renzi? A privileged few.”

Giuseppe Conte’s stance on Kyiv? “As far as we are concerned, we could never be part of a coalition in which this approach to Putin’s imperialism prevailed.” Riccardo Magi, secretary of Più Europa, told Il Foglio this on the sidelines of a weekend which – amidst Lega rallies and Meloni’s massive crowd at the EUR – saw the leader of the M5S reaffirm his firm stance in favour of a centre-left alliance: no to arms and rearmament. Ukraine is undermining the glue with which Elly Schlein is trying to hold the various opposition forces together ahead of the general election. In theory, these would also include the Radicals led by Magi. But the conditional is essential: "The coalition cannot exist without a permanent forum for political debate. And that is precisely what is missing. I took part in the first meetings of this coalition-in-the-making. I recall an Avs party a couple of years ago where, alongside Conte, Schlein, Fratoiani and Bonelli, I was also present. On those public occasions, I had the opportunity to engage in a frank exchange with Conte precisely on the issue of support for the Ukrainian resistance,” recalls the secretary. “Unfortunately, the result was that shortly afterwards I was no longer invited to such events. A highly polarised – and therefore doomed to failure – conception of politics has prevailed. The current composition of this broad coalition does not represent a viable alternative for government, which for us is, first and foremost, a coalition that identifies the relaunch of European integration as its strategic objective. But if political debate fails to provide the capacity and opportunity to overcome these differences, they become explosive.”

Meanwhile, this is precisely the position that seems to be gaining the most traction, given that some polls crown Conte as the leader of the broad coalition (which he calls the Alliance for the Constitution). “I’d prefer Schlein,” says Magi. “Not least on issues I consider decisive, such as our international stance towards Europe.” Such remarks consign to the dustbin that certain degree of optimism which Magi himself had placed in the Five Star Movement leader until March, when he even invited him to the Più Europa convention (earning applause from the audience). "The problem, however," Magi emphasises, "is that a coalition must first exist, which, as far as we are concerned, does not currently exist."

From the photo of the ‘Patto della birra’ to a selfie in a restaurant in Rome, without Magi and without Matteo Renzi. Last week, Renzi did not show much enthusiasm in criticising the technicality of the new ‘anti-splinter party’ clause in the electoral law. ‘Signatures are a technical detail. It is legitimate that there are other parties who want to participate and stand for election,’ but ‘a certain number of signatures’ is required. I don’t know if the required number is excessive,” said the leader of Iv on Tagadà, on La 7. The reference is to an amendment to the electoral law that provides for a significant increase in the number of signatures required for those entering Parliament for the first time. Whereas previously 1,500 signatures were required for each multi-member constituency (around 94,000 in total), the number has now risen to 6,000 – that is, over 350,000 across Italy. Last week, representatives of the opposition and a few leaders (Conte, Bonelli) gathered outside the Senate to protest against the provision. Not Renzi, though. “Well, of course, he’s exempt – he’s one of the privileged few. How could he possibly disagree?” says Magi, who has announced street protests over the electoral law (which is back before the Chamber of Deputies today): “We’ll do everything we can to stop it, from public campaigns at this stage right through to legal challenges in the next phase.” On this point, even his colleagues in the opposition could have done more. "The whole debate on the electoral law was a disgraceful episode in parliamentary life, an embarrassing chapter for everyone," says the leader of Più Europa. 

As we have reported here, his party is going through a period of deep internal division, and the risk of the whole affair ending up in court is just around the corner. “I don’t know how it will end. I hope that everyone will take responsibility within the role clearly set out in the party constitution and entrusted to us by the last party conference held a year and a half ago,” says Magi. "At a time like this, as Emma Bonino used to say, we should take responsibility for not navel-gazing, for not getting lost in internal clashes, but for trying – as we have always done – to make a contribution to national politics and to our key issues." The clashes, however, do exist, and so does the mountain of signatures to be collected. Is there no fear within Più Europa of disappearing? "Political parties are not churches, but tools for carrying out political initiatives and achieving objectives. Parties also serve to build alliances with others who share those objectives, so from this point of view," concludes Magi, "there is no fear of disappearing or any obsession of that sort."