Renzi: “If Conte wins the primaries, I will support him in government”

Matteo Renzi says he is prepared to support whoever wins the primaries, even the leader of the Five Star Movement, Giuseppe Conte. “My answer is yes. If you agree to hold primaries, whoever wins them, you support them. Then I’ll do everything I can to ensure that the person I consider the furthest from my views doesn’t win. But if they do win, they’ll govern. Full stop.” The leader of Italia Viva made these remarks at the launch of his book Quando c’era lei. L’Italia dopo Giorgia Meloni’, in response to a question about whether he would support the M5S leader in government should he win, should there be primaries on the centre-left. “The issue isn’t Conte. If there are primaries, whoever wins them represents everyone,” he added, “then I’ll do everything I can to ensure that the person I consider furthest from my views doesn’t win, but if he wins, he governs – full stop. Conte is not my political role model, but I have already supported him as Prime Minister.’ This stance is certainly not new for Renzi, who as far back as 2024 had called for an alliance with Schlein and Conte: “Not only is it possible, but it is also the only alternative to prevent us from being stuck with Giorgia Meloni and her sisters, brothers-in-law and the whole lot for decades,” he had told the Corriere della Sera.

This point was reiterated by Beppe Sala, who, speaking at the presentation, explained that he harbours no grudge against the leader of the M5S, who had called for his resignation following the investigations into town planning. “I will vote for others, but if he wins, he will have my support. I will put myself at the service of the winner and support them,” said the mayor of Milan. Both called on the coalition to speed up work on the programme and not to impose vetoes. “Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work,” said Renzi. “Enough of those who say ‘yes’ to one thing and ‘no’ to another, and then tell you what to do – that’s not what politics is about.”

Following the opening remarks about Conte, there is room for a dig at Carlo Calenda, leader of Azione. “If someone hadn’t recklessly destroyed the third political bloc, there would be a counterbalancing force today. Those who keep tearing everything apart because they say ‘I don’t like that, that’s no good’ – they aren’t engaging in politics, but passing judgement,” continues the former prime minister. “This is the populism of the anti-populists,” he added. And whilst within the broad coalition some (particularly from the M5S) remain disgruntled about the presence of the former Tuscan prime minister within the centre-left alliance, Sala believes that excluding Italia Viva and Matteo Renzi from the coalition would be “madness, and whoever were to do so would harm the left; I expect the PD to state this forcefully”. Speaking from Milan, Renzi also argued that the centre-left without Italia Viva “goes everywhere, but doesn’t win. That is the problem. The fundamental issue is that the numbers are clear,” he said, “so we want to make a contribution on the issues.” Starting with “education, healthcare and security”.