“Without the centre, there can be no victory; Conte should focus on votes, not vetoes.” Lella Paita (Iv) speaks out

“Envisioning a centre-left coalition without the centre would be a straight, straight path to electoral defeat. An incomprehensible choice for anyone who believes this is a poorly governed country that deserves an alternative,” Raffaella Paita, Italia Viva’s Senate group leader, tells Il Foglio. Giuseppe Conte’s statements, contained in Bruno Vespa’s new book, have just been published by the news agencies: “Italia Viva within the broad coalition is a problem for Italy, not for the M5S. If a section of the Movement’s electorate were to stay away from the polls because of Renzi’s presence, we would never send Meloni home”. She added: “If the PD wants Renzi, it is up to its secretary to take responsibility for securing political guarantees that will protect us from the alliance being weakened.” In response to the Five Star Movement leader, Paita drew on recent electoral history. “Perhaps it’s because I’m from Liguria and I remember well how things went in my part of the country just over a year ago: we had an open-goal opportunity to score, with an outgoing centre-right president under house arrest (Giovanni Toti, ed.), and yet we lost for a very simple reason: someone chose to exclude the centre. The same thing happened in Basilicata.” For Iv, this is big news: Paita will take part, alongside Maria Elena Boschi, in the progressive alliance’s working group to draft the programme, as announced yesterday afternoon by Schlein, Conte, Bonelli and Fratoianni.

Meanwhile, however, those attempting to interpret the ‘political guarantees’ mentioned by Conte read them as follows: Renzi is fine, provided none of his people are included in the majority bonus. In short, bring in the votes, but not the elected representatives. ‘Renzi has already said that he is not interested in being voted for by Conte’s voters, nor in getting our voters to vote for Conte, so the issue does not arise,’ comments Paita. “Conte should focus on votes, rather than vetoes.” So, no vetoes from the centre either? Will it at least be possible, on the left, to agree on a single centrist list? “We are willing to work towards a comprehensive centrist list,” replies Paita. Even with Onorato? “We have never vetoed anyone. That said, if that does not happen, the polls show us just a hair’s breadth away from 3 per cent: we’ll work to reach that threshold even on our own, whilst always remaining in a coalition.”

Returning to Conte and the Five Star Movement, is it possible to govern a country with this level of mutual mistrust and so many policy differences – not just on Ukraine? “No one denies the difficulties,” admits Paita, “but it is equally clear to me that there are far deeper differences within the centre-right too, yet they have had the wisdom to find common ground.” And yet you criticise them for inaction, perhaps precisely because of these differences. Doesn’t the progressive camp run the same risk? It is precisely this internal inconsistency within coalitions that drives some, such as Carlo Calenda and Pina Picierno, to remain in the centre. Could it be that, in the end, they are the ones who are right? “Certainly,” acknowledges Paita, “the coalitions have profound internal differences. The right has found its common ground in destroying Ilva, in engaging in nothing but propaganda on security, and in claiming to uphold due process only for their own friends… Faced with such a scenario, a bulwark is needed. Our coalition, too, has differences and contradictions, but even whilst in opposition it has put forward some excellent joint proposals. Is it the best possible coalition? – continues the IV senator – In politics, perfection does not exist; what exists is compromise: a beautiful word. In politics, compromises are made. This electoral law states that whoever comes first wins: Calenda’s decision not to align himself with either side effectively places him on Meloni’s side. For this reason, the stronger we centrists are within the coalition, the more we will be able to push through our priorities on due process, support for young people, reducing the tax burden, infrastructure and industrial policy.”