Magi is forming a parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies. With Soumahoro and Tabacci, but without the PD. The PD is considering Acerbo

Rome. Sitting on a small sofa in the Transatlantico, Riccardo Magi smiles and spreads his arms wide: “The broader coalition hasn’t been all that receptive…” He is referring in particular to Elly Schlein’s PD. For at least two days, the secretary of +Europa tried to raise awareness and explain his reasons to the centre-left parties. He was asking his allies for a sort of democratic support: one MP ‘on loan’ – or two – which would allow his faction to reach the five-member threshold, thereby enabling them, by way of exception, to form a parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies and to appeal to the Constitutional Court against the massive signature-gathering campaign required by the Melonellum. But to no avail: there was no help from the main opposition parties. Magi had expected a greater effort, particularly from Schlein, with whom he has a closer relationship. The secretary did not heed the appeal; on the other hand, in the Senate, the Democrats are considering lending a hand to Maurizio Acerbo’s Rifondazione Comunista (incidentally: Marco Rizzo, thanks to Antonio Guidi, may soon have his own parliamentary group too). So it was Aboubakar Soumahoro and Bruno Tabacci who came to +Europa’s aid, joining Magi himself, Della Vedova and Pastorino. Tabacci, the ‘Highlander’ of Italian politics, is also, incidentally, the holder of the ‘Centro Democratico’ symbol: in recent days he had already made it available to Più Uno (in the last elections he had done so with Luigi Di Maio), so that the party led by Ernesto Maria Ruffini and Franco Gabrielli could benefit from the reduction in the number of signatures required: from 6,000 to 1,500 per constituency, as provided for by the new electoral law for those with a parliamentary group. Tabacci’s move perhaps signals a further step towards the rationalisation of the centre, or the centres: a process that, until now, has been hampered by vetoes, counter-vetoes and differing strategies on the part of the players involved. The very same players who have slowed down Magi’s initiative. After all, Giuseppe Conte and the M5S have found their moderate allies in Alessandro Onorato, above all, and Enzo Maraio, lending a senator to help establish the PSI’s parliamentary group in the Senate. Schlein, on the other hand, had pinned her hopes on Matteo Renzi, betting that the centrist forces would rally around Italia Viva. For the time being, the result has been the opposite: the ‘centrists’ have multiplied – due to mutual mistrust – becoming a sort of alibi for the broad coalition. From Schlein to Conte, right through to AVS (who held a press conference yesterday), the parties in the ‘broad coalition’ are trying to capitalise on the recent protests; they are attacking Meloni over the cost of living – and there is certainly no shortage of arguments – but they continue to postpone discussions on the programme, whilst waiting to define the scope of the coalition. This is certainly not the only problem, given that even yesterday in the European Parliament the PD and M5S were divided over a resolution condemning Russian attacks within the EU and in the Black Sea (Conte’s supporters voted against it), but the issue of the centre has, in the meantime, become a sort of excuse. Magi’s move is an attempt to stir things up, in the hope that his appeal might lead to a total exemption from the requirement to collect signatures. “We’re making it available to everyone,” explained the secretary of +Europa. The aim is to compete on a level playing field with Renzi, who is currently the only one not required to collect any signatures.

Against this backdrop, yesterday Ruffini – while presenting his programme – issued a new appeal: “I believe that all political forces outside the broad coalition should have the responsibility and generosity to share their proposals, first and foremost to find common ground amongst themselves and present a single list in the primaries”. With Gabrielli, he assures us, “we will contact everyone”. But it will certainly be no easy task: Onorato will also need to be persuaded; he is due to open the ‘Stati generali’ of Progetto Civico today to present his policy platform, “including costs, funding and implementation timelines”. It is well known that the Rome city councillor does not hold Renzi in high regard. But in the programme for the three-day event – with the exception of Maraio – the other centrists are nowhere to be seen either. However, all the leaders of the broad coalition will be attending the event, which runs until Sunday. All except Schlein, due to scheduling issues and prior commitments between the Festa dell’Unità in Cagliari and Montepulciano. “She’s not here at the moment, but never say never. I have a wonderful relationship with Elly; we’re in regular contact,” Onorato said yesterday. Who knows. In the meantime, the PD will be represented by President Bonaccini, as well as Governors Giani and De Pascale. Ruggiero Montenegro