The Annunziata case. She pays her membership fees to the PD, but the party has expelled her and she is considering leaving

 The PD also risks losing Lucia Annunziata, the MEP of whom Elly Schlein is so proud (240,000 first-choice votes), the ‘abbess’ of journalism. As an independent member of the PD, she ‘pays’ the party, pays her membership fees, and the PD repays her by excluding her from party life. She is invited, yet effectively excluded. Annunziata has warned her ‘friends’ in the PD (so to speak): if my work is of no use, I may well leave the European delegation. Can Schlein, who intends to announce her candidacy in the primaries at Friday’s executive committee meeting, afford to lose her key allies and allow them to be treated as undesirables? 

Renzi says that “only the left can lose the next election, and that those who fail to reach an agreement will bear a responsibility before history”. There is a small story that recounts what Schlein believes to be a great one, describing this party with its unique past, which invented the role of the independent MP. It was Enrico Berlinguer – that angular, tenacious face that Schlein has imprinted on the PD membership card – who championed ‘the independent’, the man and woman who are close yet distant by design. They were, and are, cultural figures, economists, lawyers, singers, film directors and, of course, writers and painters whom the Italian Communist Party (PCI), but also the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and the Radical Party, put forward on their electoral lists. To name but a few: Stefano Rodotà, Giorgio Ruffolo, Natalia Ginzburg, Gino Paoli, Eduardo De Filippo and Altiero Spinelli.

Among the most famous radicals: Enzo Tortora, Leonardo Sciascia. The independent left-winger is an unconventional figure who brings prestige and distinction to the party. Schlein has, quite rightly, revived and revitalised the role of the independent MP. In the last European elections, she chose to field, amongst others, Marco Tarquinio, Cecilia Strada and, in the south, Lucia Annunziata. The ballot box proved her right. Schlein expanded her support to 24 per cent (a brief aside on the polls: in those elections, the M5S, which had been predicted to reach 15 per cent, ended up at 10 per cent) thanks in part to these figures. Annunziata had made it clear that she would not join the PD, but as a Member of the European Parliament she pays her dues both in Europe and at home. There is no need to reiterate who Annunziata is: former director of TG3, president of RAI, a ‘abbess’ who has made the headlines. She was chosen for the European Parliament on the strength of her expertise and is responsible for foreign affairs and defence – the very issues on which the PD and the M5S are at odds.

Annunziata has just one flaw. She doesn’t need to blow her own trumpet for the secretary’s post, nor does she have to beg for interviews. Over recent months, she has been working on dossiers concerning China – dossiers that the PD has allowed to slip away, in silence. In a few months’ time, European posts will be up for re-election, and amongst these is the vice-presidency held by Pina Picierno (who has left the PD); the serious danger is that the PD’s jubilant primary election machine will be scaled back in Brussels too. In European politics, the Spanish delegation is manoeuvring to seek compromises with the European People’s Party, whilst the Italian delegation is thinking about how to return to Italy. Some see themselves as ministers, others as challengers to Schlein. Being independent already means being an outsider, but being an outsider does not mean being unwanted. The PD uses the ‘independent’ status as a pretext to marginalise Annunziata. Her work ends up on desks and is only opened months later. The objection is simple: why doesn’t she join the party, why doesn’t she get a membership card? The answer is just as straightforward: she had agreed with Schlein on ‘independence’ – that special quality that brings constructive criticism and a dissenting voice.

Today, Annunziata is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, a member of the Delegation for Relations with Israel, and a member of the Committee on Security and Defence. She travels the world, not least because it would be interesting to know how many other MEPs from the PD are able – and willing – to take part in this work. In good families, they say: ‘Lucia, this is your home.’ This does not apply to Annunziata. To take part in party events, she must be formally invited; otherwise, she is excluded. But is Annunziata not the delegate responsible for the crucial issues of our times? Annunziata has informed her group that if her voice is not needed, she might as well remain a backbencher. If one were to resort to the bureaucracy—which Schlein has taken a liking to of late—it would end up like this: Annunziata would receive her full salary, whilst the PD would lose yet another voice, a source of expertise, and even her seat. In recent months, no fewer than four women have left the PD. Annunziata’s case is even more exceptional. She would be the first to walk away from this illusion. The illusion that there was room and respect for independence within the PD.