Italia Viva, the letter from the leaders to Renzi appears to ask for the Congress –

Aldo Torchiaro

July 30, 2024

Matteo Renzi’s letter to our newspaper did not go unnoticed. However, judging by the reactions, it had the opposite effect to what it intended. For the first time, the leader is being contested with some force by his own supporters. It all started last July 19, when Renzi reversed, leaving even his most loyal supporters perplexed. A few months earlier, the founder of IV had published his latest pamphlet, “Palla al centro”, where he illustrated the need to build a moderate center “opposed to the opposition”. And here is the counter-order, written by him for : “The European elections have shown that the Third Pole is irrelevant. And if it is in a competition with proportional representation, imagine what could happen in a two-way clash with the majoritarian system”, he said, writing to our newspaper. He then concluded: “We at Italia Viva have chosen to be with the center-left, in a transparent way”. But many in IV did not know about the alliance with Elly Schlein’s PD.

After the European debacle, there was a meeting on Zoom where different analyses were made and open hypotheses were launched. Already at that time, many had asked to go to a congress to define the route. Matteo Renzi had assured it as early as June. He had asked for an extraordinary commitment to membership in view of the congress to be held “in the autumn”. Then, he must have changed his mind. The assembly – where to establish the party’s position – became an option, later defined as unnecessary. Luigi Marattin was the first to raise his objections. “If they want to change the line now, how can they not discuss it in a new congress? It seems instead that they don’t want to do it and this is a sign that the parties have become the private property of individuals. If this forcing were to continue, I would take note of it along with many others”, declared the Iv MP yesterday. Together with Enrico Costa of Azione he launched an online petition, on Change.org, which in a few days exceeded 7,000 signatures. And yesterday’s news is that Marattin’s push is joined by the initiative taken by dozens of young leaders of IV, stunned by the sudden change in political strategy.

On the website www.congressoperiv.com they have collected one hundred and fifty signatures from Iv executives and elected officials: the document calls for a congress within the year. Renzi did not respond, but the national coordinator, Raffaella Paita, did: «Maximum availability for democratic debate. The letter is a sign of the richness and vitality of the internal debate. The assembly will be the place to compare ideas and possibly call the congress».