Dear Arianna Meloni, simply stating that you wish to win is insufficient to secure the elections in Rome

It is certainly true that, as Friedrich W. Nietzsche argued, ‘success comes not only with victory, but sometimes even with the mere will to win’; however, the philosopher from Röcken was never a candidate for mayor of Rome. And had he had to contend with the tentacles of tarmac, traffic and bureaucracy that suffocate a city stretching out horizontally like an ocean of nightmares, he would probably have proclaimed far more than simply the death of God. And so, observing the unfolding of ‘Piazza Italia’ – the event organised and hosted by Fratelli d’Italia in the picturesque setting of the Giardino degli Aranci, on Rome’s ‘Tibet’, that is, the Aventine Hill – one is struck by the statements of the political coordinator of the party based in Via della Scrofa, Arianna Meloni, who asserts in no uncertain terms that “in Rome, we want to win”. She made these remarks during the ‘Riscatto Capitale’ panel discussion, which also featured Fabio Rampelli, Giovanni Donzelli, Marco Perissa and Paolo Trancassini. In practice, the only non-party figure in the line-up was the journalist called upon to act as moderator. There is a certain degree of self-referentiality on the stage dedicated to the capital’s redemption: no civil society, no associations, not even the testimony of a disgruntled citizen complaining about the queues at the registry office or of someone growing old whilst waiting for the bus.

What is missing, however, above all, is a concrete vision of what this imagined Roma looks like and, equally, how to actually bring it to life. And that is why the mere proclamation of wanting to win is not enough to give it substance. Not least because – have you ever met anyone who, upon taking to the stage, has exclaimed to the audience, ‘We want to lose!’? That self-referential nature of the panel – which begins in Via della Scrofa and ends in Via della Scrofa – is, however, consistent with the list of names circulating as hypothetical candidates, none of whom, let us be clear, are official. Rampelli, Roberta Angelilli, Luciano Ciocchetti. In short, an in-house solution. It is said that the list will be finalised after the summer. There is, however, a huge problem with all this muddled slowness. The capital’s redemption, as envisaged and proclaimed from the Aventine podium, must be conveyed through a narrative that embodies its own vision of the city and, symmetrically, serves as a counterpoint to the communication steamroller of Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, the undisputed master of the capital’s storytelling. In the absence of a clear candidate capable of channelling this project of redemption, the words are carried away by the blue-tinged breeze of the Aventine Hill. This has been understood very well by the President of the Lazio Region, Francesco Rocca, who has slipped to last place in the popularity poll compiled by Noto Sondaggi for "Il Sole 24 Ore". In the absence of a candidate who can champion a different vision for the city, Rocca rightly argues, the current mayor can capitalise, in the media and in his communications, even on decisions and measures taken by the national government and the Region.

The delay in identifying a candidate inevitably ends up having repercussions, albeit indirectly, at national level and, to a much greater extent, at regional level. The impression is that, beyond the rhetoric, the centre-right – and FdI in particular – are not really keen to take over Gualtieri’s seat, and that they are aiming, above all, to lose by a narrow margin, with dignity, just enough to avoid compromising the regional and general elections as well. This line of reasoning may make sense when applied to the general election, but it makes far less sense for the regional election, given the extremely close relationship between the city and the region – both in terms of population and the electorate, and in terms of dynamics linked to the services provided and financial and legislative measures. Gualtieri’s re-election would thus risk serving as a notice of eviction for Rocca.