Forget the programme and the primaries: the real unifying force within the broad coalition is the Consulta

They want to capitalise on the mobilisation effect. It is therefore no coincidence that Giuseppe Conte has asked his allies to rename the broad coalition ‘Alliance for the Constitution’. Over the course of very complicated weeks and months – involving issues such as the primaries and the drafting of a coalition programme – the left has realised what the real key to keeping the coalition united is: an appeal to the Constitutional Court. It is no surprise, in fact, that whilst political positioning is being debated and hypotheses about a ‘third candidate’ for the race to Palazzo Chigi are being put forward and discarded, the legal experts from the various parties are hard at work preparing constitutional challenges to some of the measures introduced (or in the process of being introduced) by the government.

On the electoral law, for example, within the broad coalition – whilst harbouring that lingering sense of failure ahead of the final vote scheduled for next week – they are already poised to finalise the appeal to the Constitutional Court that they have been fine-tuning for months. AVS and Più Europa were the first to take action. However, similar work is also being carried out by the committee established within the Demo Foundation, chaired by Gianni Cuperlo, comprising the organisations Gruppo Costituzione e Democrazia, Articolo 21 and Giustizia Insieme. The main sticking points are, above all, the majority bonus, deemed ‘abnormal’, and the new rules on collecting signatures, which would make it much more difficult for those not in Parliament to stand for election. On the issue of differentiated autonomy, the first to speak openly of appealing to the Constitutional Court were the President of Puglia, Antonio Decaro, and the President of Campania, Roberto Fico, both representatives of the ‘broad coalition’. However, in recent days, centre-left regional presidents have set their sights on a further government measure: the one making the 30 per cent cap on foreign pupils (who do not speak Italian) in classes ‘mandatory’. The governors of Emilia-Romagna, Puglia, Sardinia, Umbria, Campania and Tuscany have, in fact, signed up to the ‘Manifesto for Inclusion’ in schools, which calls for the correct application of Article 3 of the Constitution. On this front too, even though the text has been countersigned by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, one possible outcome could be an appeal to the Constitutional Court, precisely on the basis of Article 3 of the Constitution.

However, even regarding the Anti-Semitism Bill, a strategy of ‘constitutional struggle’ by the broad coalition could soon emerge. Yesterday, the organisations campaigning against the bill (led by Amnesty International) returned to protest outside Montecitorio (with the usual display of Hamas and Hezbollah flags). A few days ago, the historian Anna Foa raised the possibility of appealing to the Constitutional Court in an interview with Il Fatto Quotidiano. “The Anti-Semitism Bill will pass; the only battle left is to challenge it before the Constitutional Court and raise the question of how it will be applied to newspapers, looking at specific cases.” These words, precisely because of the newspaper in which they were published, have aroused some interest amongst the leadership of the Five Star Movement. The party is banking heavily on the Gaza issue (and opposition to rearmament) for its campaign, particularly in the run-up to the primaries and the general election. Nor is it a coincidence that Conte, on the one hand, and Fratoianni and Bonelli, on the other, have placed great emphasis on these points. Perhaps aware that, although Schlein too has benefited from the ‘no’ vote in the referendum on justice, it may be their own electorate in particular that is reignited by a possible rejection of the government by the constitutional judges. At this point, all that remains is to change the coalition’s name. Forget about a ‘broad coalition’ or an ‘alliance for the Constitution’: stubbornly united, yes, by the Constitutional Court.