Politics
Broadside attacks •
One (Schlein) is not worth one (Conte): a ‘Secretary 2.0’ on the PD’s Executive Committee
The Democratic Party secretary responds to the leader of the Five Star Movement on the primaries, the ‘third man’ and the programme: ‘Generous, yes; naive, no’. But the Kyiv issue remains a sticking point, and the reformists are turning up their noses. And Conte replies: ‘“One person, one vote” means that those who say “stop the weapons” are the ones who matter’. Campo Largo in turmoil
She doesn’t even seem like herself, this Elly Schlein 2.0 who, whilst leading the PD, breaks away from the mantra of ‘schools, healthcare, wages’ to deliver the line that draws unanimous applause (just as the vote on her report will later be unanimous, even without the participation of the reformists). “One is not equal to one,” says the PD secretary, because M5S leader Giuseppe Conte not only intends to, but may well retract the cryptic words he spoke the day before – the ones with which he had raised the issue of the “third man” (along the lines of: I had made myself available to discuss a third candidate, but found no willingness to do so). He does not retract them; indeed, in the evening he says that if the choice is between “either her or the primaries”, then the primaries are welcome, and that “one is worth one” means that what counts is those who say ‘stop the weapons’ – 70 per cent of the citizens.
Meanwhile, however, a massive, growing outcry has emerged from the Nazareno. “Generous, yes; naive, no,” says Schlein, and the point is this: we’ve secured twice as many votes as the others, and throughout the Western world the candidate for Prime Minister is the leader of the party with the most support; but since someone (namely Conte) does not recognise this principle, we’re ready to win the primaries, and our manifesto has been ready since last February, whilst others – Conte, as ever – kept us waiting until September. Stubbornly united, yes, but not in every direction: this is the ‘PD Pride’ version of Schlein, who, in her own words, is getting ‘a few things off her chest’, to take direct aim at those seeking to sideline her – both from outside and within the party – as a potential future prime ministerial candidate (diplomacy dictates that she calls it the ‘party of the stalemate’ or the ‘establishment that doesn’t want a progressive government’, whilst knowing full well that even amongst the Democrats there is no shortage of supporters of the ‘third man’).
Schlein 2.0 does precisely that on the very day that these figures are in their element in the interview with Corriere della Sera in which Prefect Franco Gabrielli announces his entry into the political fray alongside Ernesto Maria Ruffini, former director of the Revenue Agency, leader of the ‘Più uno’ movement and future party. “They’ll try to break into our home to divide us, but they’ll find the door locked,” says the Democratic Party secretary, emphasising that she wants to form a government only by “winning the elections” and citing the figures: “We’ve revitalised the party, we’ve grown in every election, and we’ve balanced the books. They had bet that we would split, yet we are more united than ever; they had bet that I would last six months, yet on 18 October, at the national assembly, we will be discussing the extension of my term of office.”
It is a ‘last-mile’ Schlein who wants to draw up the programme with everyone (including Matteo Renzi, and if Conte isn’t happy with that, so be it) but who, on the subject of Ukraine – following Goffredo Bettini’s letter of mediation (a step down, say the reformists) to the Corriere and Conte’s ‘ni’et’ – goes no further than expressing the hope of one day reaching an agreement with her allies (here’s hoping): “We have always supported, and will continue to support, the Ukrainian people against Russia’s criminal aggression,” she says, “and we know that the EU must make its commitment clearer… it must appoint a negotiator. I am confident that we will find a compromise that is up to the task.”
The reports by the reformists Giorgio Gori, Lia Quartapelle and Simona Malpezzi thus take on a fiery tone. Giorgio Gori (who reveals that he received a resounding ‘no’ to the two-round system in the primaries) raises the banner of ‘no to Conte’s diktats’: ‘If the PD stops supporting Ukraine, even militarily, it betrays its values’. Sandra Zampa also speaks out in support of Kyiv, and Lia Quartapelle presses on: “If one person isn’t worth one, we have a duty to explain to our allies that military support for Ukraine is the issue that, in Europe, distinguishes the forces that will build the EU of tomorrow from those committed to destroying it.” Then it’s time to vote. And in the sky above the Nazareno, Schlein’s new mantra rings out: “Whether you like it or not.”
