Elly decides, the party splits. Bonaccini threatens to withdraw –

Dario Martini

March 28, 2024

Elly Schlein wanted to give the impression of a Nazarene where everything is rosy, with members of the secretariat who unanimously asked her to take the field at the European Championships. The leader of the Democratic Party then went on TV to Floris to announce urbi et orbi the LuciaAnnunziata-Antonio Decaro couple (the leading journalist, the mayor of Bari in second place) who will run in the Southern constituency. It’s a pity that the emergency meeting called two days ago, to try to stem the Emiliano-Decaro case, it was the exact opposite. It would be more correct to speak of a “secretariat of the long knives”, with parts of the party who have already unearthed the hatchet. The air that was breathed yesterday on the Transatlantic among the dem troops was anything but relaxed. The stomach aches come mainly from the reformist Base, headed by Dario Franceschini, and from Energia Popolare, Stefano Bonaccini’s faction.

The one who banged his fists on the table, the Nazarene sources say, was Alessandro Alfieri, who did not like Elly’s announcement on TV and who coincidentally in recent weeks had complained regarding the party’s no to the third term which damages Bonaccini . Alfieri’s discontent is the same that comes from the “Orlandians”, the area of ​​the party that looks to the former Minister of Justice. But what is taking place in the dem’s house is essentially an open battle for seats. Let’s start from the South. The choice to focus on the Annunziata-Decaro tandem infuriated Pina Picierno, the current MEP who has always been very critical of Schlein, who risks being relegated to fifth place due to gender equality. The climate is tense even if we look at the North East, where Bonaccini would have given his chance to run second on the list behind Schlein. But if the leader were to opt for a more “backward” position, everything would change. The president of Emilia Romagna, in fact, would have no intention of presenting himself to the voters behind Annalisa Corrado, the tough and pure ecologist who is part of the secretariat and very loyal to Elly.

Then there is the Center constituency. Here the internal conflict becomes incandescent. The figure of Marco Tarquinio, the former director of Avvenire, risked causing the party to explode. The reformist base does not like his markedly anti-Nato positions at all, in the sense that Tarquinio has never hidden his clear opposition. The LGBTQIA+ champion has not forgotten the journalist’s attack on his bill. The MEP once morest the presenter who risks move it fifth on the list to send weapons to Kiev. It might go well with Giuseppe Conte, but certainly not with Dem parliamentarians like Lorenzo Guerini and Lia Quartapelle, who also look worried at the daughter of the founder of Emergency Cecilia Strada, who is naturally not inclined to send military supplies indefinitely. Tarquinio doesn’t even like Alessandro Zan, the champion of LGBTQIA+ rights, who has never forgotten the words that the journalist spoke in 2021 on his bill: «The Zan bill? People cannot be educated with fascist Saturdays, a law that targets homophobia is fine, but here ambiguous crime cases are introduced.”

It’s a real short circuit. Also because it would be pure Nicola Zingaretti not to want Tarquinio. The former governor of the Lazio region risks finding himself facing an all too large group of internal competitors. In addition to Il Bonacciniano, he did not like Schlein’s announcement on TV regarding the mayor and Annunziata on the list. The former governor, irritated by too many important candidatures in the Center, such as that of mayor Tarquinio, in the Center constituency, would also have to deal with the outgoing mayor of Florence Dario Nardella, who has now set up camp in Rome in order to guarantee himself a good place on the list.
If then we put Marco Furfaro’s sights in the middle, the success is guaranteed. Schlein’s right-hand man from Pistoia has been working for some time to oust Eugenio Giani from Tuscany where there will be a vote next year. And if Florence were to “fall” too in June, with the complicity of the Renzians, we would see some good things.