There is a faction moving towards Forza Italia: “Cirio’s appeal is welcome; we need courage and dialogue”

“Alberto Cirio’s appeal is one of absolute common sense.” Speaking to Il Foglio, Daniela Ruffino, MP and secretary of Azione in Piedmont, welcomes the call for unity issued yesterday in these pages by the Piedmontese governor and deputy secretary of Forza Italia. A common path can therefore be found. “Dialogue in the Regional Council is by no means complicated, and there is considerable common ground in Parliament too. It is on the basis of liberal principles that we seek allies, and we are open to dialogue. But it is obvious,” she warns, “that we need to understand who our fellow travellers are and how we can take this project forward.” For Secretary Carlo Calenda, if Giorgia Meloni were to oust League leader Matteo Salvini (who has promised to withdraw support for Kyiv), “the whole centre-right would benefit”. Ruffino agrees: “The centre-right is compromising by continuing to keep someone like Salvini in the coalition, with his nonsense about Ukraine. They should rein him in and sideline him,” observes the MP. For FI, there must be the courage to open the door and say ‘let’s change direction’. We opened that door some time ago, both in Parliament and on the ground. For our part, there is always that great openness to welcoming anyone who wants to engage in dialogue with us. FI is not populist; it is a liberal party, so dialogue is very much welcome.”

This is why Ruffino says she is “delighted by Cirio’s openness, and also by the courage he has shown. I hope that, at national level, there will be common ground on policy programmes”. What does she ask of Secretary Calenda, who is working with Pina Picierno to build a completely independent centre? “That the door to dialogue remains open. But I’m sure of it: he is the very embodiment of dialogue”. In Piedmont, Azione also supports Cirio through Councillor Sergio Bartoli, who was elected on his civic list: “The Piedmontese experience,” he tells Il Foglio, “shows that it is possible to collaborate effectively in the interests of the region, whilst respecting different political identities”.