The broad coalition (at last) announces: “Election campaign in November and primaries in February”. Renzi and the others are also at the table

We have a date. Or rather, a roadmap. After months of intense and endless debate, the broad coalition has managed to agree on a timeline to begin the process of forming the coalition in earnest. Following a video conference lasting more than three hours, the four coalition leaders – Angelo Bonelli, Giuseppe Conte, Nicola Fratoianni and Elly Schlein – issued a joint statement announcing the next steps: the programme will be finalised by November. “From next week, discussions will begin to finalise the coalition’s programme by the end of the month,” they write. These talks will be “attended by the opposition parties represented in Parliament who share the urgency of building a governing alternative to the right,” they say. The invitation therefore appears to be extended to all, from Italia Viva to +Europa, right through to the newly formed groups created through parliamentary loans, such as Progetto Civico Italia and Rifondazione.

And what about the primaries? “They will be held by the end of February, with the aim of making them a key event for democratic participation, so as to ensure leadership that is fully supported by every force within the progressive camp,” they write. It appears there has been a compromise between those who wanted them to take place as soon as possible, such as Conte, and those who preferred them to be held closer to the elections, such as Schlein. 

However, the next event in terms of timing will be different. It is scheduled for December: a street demonstration called to mobilise people (hopefully more successfully than in July, in Naples). “Following on from what was announced last week, we have agreed to organise a nationwide mobilisation in December – whilst this dreadful budget is being debated – to offer an alternative to four years of Meloni’s government, which have led to rising living costs, near-zero growth and increased inequality,” they say. They add: “The demonstration will be organised in collaboration with the opposition parties and will be open to the country’s social movements and civil society.”