The primaries, the mutual vetoes and ‘the three-way step back’. Vincenzo Spadafora speaks

Vincenzo Spadafora, former minister in the Conte II government, founder of the Primavera association and a member of the small, rebellious circle at the heart of the centre-left, is ready. Ready to stand in the primaries, he says, “even though I did everything I could to avoid it”. Meanwhile, on Monday 9 November, Spadafora will be at the Rome Chamber of Commerce at 6 pm “to outline the proposals we would have put forward at the broad coalition talks, had we not been excluded in the name of the principle ‘out with those who have no parliamentary representation’. A decision I do not understand from a political standpoint: shouldn’t we be including and listening to others?”. His first barb is therefore directed at the Democratic Party’s secretary Elly Schlein, the M5S leader Giuseppe Conte and the AVS duo Nicola Fratoianni and Angelo Bonelli. Also on the 9th, in fact, Spadafora will gather outside the Nazareno at 4 pm “for a rally and to shine a spotlight on one fact: the last time the centre-left won an election was in 2006, under Romano Prodi, by a margin of 25,000 votes. So we’ll be gathering outside the PD headquarters with a banner reading ‘I count’. Every vote matters.” To recap: Spadafora had proposed a Constituent Assembly of centrist forces. He had proposed a single list for the centre. He had highlighted the absurdity of mutual vetoes. To no avail.

“So, at this stage, if they are to be open primaries, then let them be so. Not primaries by invitation, where each leader picks their own opponent.” How would Spadafora stand? “I would stand on the strength of my experience as a former minister and former president of UNICEF, but I remain steadfastly committed to unity: I hope, in the end, that my candidacy won’t be necessary.” Spadafora would withdraw, provided that three parties stepped aside: himself, Ernesto Maria Ruffini, leader of Più Uno, and Alessandro Onorato, leader of Progetto Civico. “Let’s be honest: in all the polls, our candidates remain stuck at zero point something, below 1 per cent. And, at such a difficult time for the country, with the centre-left in trouble, I find the debate about Matteo Renzi incomprehensible. I say this as someone who has never spared him criticism. Renzi is a political leader who is putting up staunch opposition to the Meloni government and is already part of the centre-left, with support levels higher than ours. His 2.5 per cent represents a million voters: do we want to veto this electorate? Let’s take a step back, I repeat, and this does not mean that our work has been in vain – quite the contrary.” Onorato says he will stand in the primaries and then we’ll see, unless a single political entity emerges – but not Renzi’s. “Onorato has done the necessary work to bring together the civic groups, Ruffini to bring the old Prodi-era guard back to the forefront, and we to engage the professional sector. But honesty now demands that we step out of our bubble: none of us has broken through beyond the circle of those already close to politics. It requires an act of generosity.” Some fear being absorbed by Renzi. “Renzi has never ruled out taking part in the formation of another political group.”

The point is also: who should lead the united centre? Spadafora does not name names, but says: “If we proceed along the path of unity, a couple of names will emerge”. And why not now? “Faced with this situation, who would risk putting themselves forward?”. Ruffini talks of uniting first on the issues, then on the names. “There is already a broad coalition round table from which we are excluded. Do you think it’s possible that, once we’ve taken our seats, we could get up and walk out if we don’t like something?” There are also Più Europa, with Riccardo Magi, and Renzi. Could the leader be one of them? “No, we need a different name who represents everyone. Meanwhile, we can learn a lesson from the US election: diversity can be an asset. If we don’t put a stop to this here, the centre-right will win again.” Carlo Calenda, leader of Azione, says the same thing, from the sidelines. “Calenda has made a choice that does the country little good: he’s rooting for a defeat so he can be the deciding factor. Right now, we need to take a stand. Either on this side or the other.” Spadafora, for his part, will be over there on Monday, beneath Elly Schlein’s window. And to his comrades in the centre, he says: “Let’s organise ourselves; there’s still time to march united.”