Italy and Yolanda Díaz’s safety net

Yolanda Díaz, Sánchez’s Minister of Labour and a former star of the Spanish and international left, has reached the end of the road politically. She enjoyed greater support in Italy than in Spain. Whilst she was being feted at CGIL conferences, invited by left-wing parties and interviewed by progressive newspapers, she was losing support at home. Her Sumar movement has run out of steam and she has announced that she will not stand for re-election in the forthcoming elections. However, she has sought a fallback outside politics by standing for the post of Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Díaz is competing against Gilbert Houngbo from Togo, who appears to be the favourite. On the one hand, this is because Houngbo is the outgoing director, who is generally re-elected at the ILO; on the other, because he has already secured two key sources of support: the trade unions (International Trade Union Confederation) and the employers’ organisations (International Organisation of Employers), which together account for half the votes (14 each). The Spanish candidate does, however, stand a chance. The trade unions are divided, as, for example, the European unions are to some extent on her side.

Voting is by secret ballot, so it is not certain that the bloc will remain united in support of the African candidate. Furthermore, the ILO’s Governing Body is composed of government representatives, who hold half the seats (28). Among the governments called upon to vote on Monday 16 November in Geneva is the Italian government, which, however, has not taken a stance. It is a curious choice: on the one hand, Díaz is a declared opponent of the Meloni government who has become actively involved in Italian politics; on the other, she is a candidate who can better represent European – and therefore Italian – interests in an international role. The Italian government could therefore support Díaz on the grounds of shared European identity, or favour Houngbo instead as a political snub to both her and Sánchez. The decision – a rather timid one – is not to reveal any preference and to cast its vote only in the secrecy of the ballot box.