Ukraine, the programme and the primaries: Conte and Schlein are at loggerheads

When Democratic Party leaders hear their secretary, Elly Schlein, explain (and she does so rather often these days) that an unspecified establishment does not want her in government and is instead working towards the broad coalitions to which she is strongly opposed, they tear their hair out. They fear, in fact, that such statements will be interpreted as an attack on the highest office. "Of all the troubles we have, the last thing we need is to fall out with the Quirinale," is the comment doing the rounds amongst the Democratic Party’s bigwigs, especially amongst those who have some familiarity with that palace.

As is widely known, relations between Elly Schlein and Giuseppe Conte have hit rock bottom. The two appear on the political stage together and speak to one another from the podium, but communication between the secretary of the Democratic Party and the leader of the Five Star Movement has been reduced to a bare minimum. Even in the group chat shared by the leaders of the broad coalition, Schlein and Conte more often limit themselves to business-related communications or exchange views with Angelo Bonelli and Nicola Fratoianni rather than with one another.

Recently, the former prime minister has been angry with the PD secretary, who denied the substance of the conversation she had with him two weeks ago. Conte had said that he had suggested to Schlein that they consider a third candidate to prevent the primaries from turning into a fratricidal battle. She, however, denied this version of events. It is true that the leader of the Five Star Movement did not name anyone during that conversation. But it is also true that on that occasion he had advised Schlein to think carefully about whether to go ahead with the primaries: “Elly, let’s think about it; we have a great responsibility.” In short, he had not given a specific first name and surname, but it is clear that the path he suggested was that of a third candidate. That public denial, which appeared in a few newspapers, did not go down well at all with the leader of the Five Star Movement, who saw Schlein’s statement as a direct snub aimed at him.

On stage at the ‘Manifestival’ at the Palladium, in the Garbatella red-light district, the leaders of the ‘broad coalition’ (though they take offence if the centre-left coalition is described as such) hinted that efforts to forge a grand alliance against Giorgio Meloni are gathering pace. ‘The programme will be finalised in two weeks; the Ukraine issue will be resolved in a single night,’ they assured the audience from the stage. However, that is far from the truth. Elly Schlein and Giuseppe Conte disagree on the approach to the programme. The PD secretary would like a few concise pages that do not delve deeply into issues – such as the war in Ukraine – on which there is significant internal disagreement. The leader of the Five Star Movement, on the other hand, would like a rigorous manifesto that leaves no room for anyone to back out, as he is convinced that his voters would accept nothing less.

Even the date of the primaries is causing a row amongst the leaders. If it were up to Nicola Fratoianni and Angelo Bonelli, the polling stations wouldn’t even be set up. If it were up to Giuseppe Conte, the primaries would take place before the end of the year to give the Five Star Movement’s supporters time to get used to the idea of this alliance. If it were up to Elly Schlein, however, the consultations among centre-left voters would only take place after the Constitutional Court has ruled on the electoral law proposed by Giorgia Meloni. In short, there is great confusion all round, yet the situation is far from ideal.