From rearmament to the war in Ukraine, passing through assets and citizenship income. The divisions within the broad field are innumerable.
Perhaps, after all, the wide field is too “wide”. Not even the time to prepare the working tables to draw up a government program before the problems are already coming home to roost.
In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the inauguration of the season of joint demonstrations, which began on 8 July in Naples, was more than anything else a harbinger of internal disagreements. Nothing surprising, on the other hand the diversity of the political forces forming part of the broad camp can only play against it.
Thus it is in particular on rearmament and support for Ukraine that the main crack in the PD-M5S axis was formed. In fact, listening to Giuseppe Conte’s words, it would seem that the Democratic Party and the 5 Star Movement are adversaries rather than allies.
“They are building a Russian threat to convince us that we must arm ourselves to the teeth,” denounced the five-star leader in Naples, warning against the “armament party” and a “mad rush” to military spending, reiterating that European diplomacy cannot be just a rhetorical exercise without concrete help.
One might wonder whether Conte realizes that it is also and above all his main ally in the next elections, the PD, that is part of that broad “rearmament party” that the five-star leader ascribes with little knowledge of the facts to the center-right alone.
Not surprisingly, the reactions in the PD were rather clear. Starting from former prime minister Paolo Gentiloni, who in the columns of Repubblica defined it as “cloying” to invoke diplomacy without armed support.
Even harsher was MEP Giorgio Gori, who asked himself regarding Conte’s words: “How can we pretend nothing happened?”. The reformist wing of the PD therefore accuses Conte of winking at pro-Russian positions, an attitude deemed incompatible with the strongly pro-European and Atlanticist line of the Democratic Party.
For his part, Conte denied having received a formal “lecture” from Elly Schlein, relaunching his position: “The line of the progressives cannot be the mad rearmament race of the Brothers of Italy”.
But the internal disagreements certainly don’t end with Ukraine. even on internal politics the differences are very marked. The Green-Left Alliance (AVS) and the left wing of the PD are pushing for the introduction of a patrimonial system, for example. Giuseppe Conte and the reformist area of the Democratic Party are holding back, fearing to scare the moderate electorate.
The fracture on the waste-to-energy plant in Rome remains incurable (strongly supported by mayor PD Gualtieri and instead opposed by the M5S), as well as on the energy transition, with the Five Star Movement holding firm on saying no to any opening on new generation nuclear energy.
We therefore arrive at citizenship income, with the M5S demanding its restoration or a mirror reform. The PD would instead prefer to focus on other measures to combat poverty.
The biggest issue, however, probably remains that of coalition leadership. If the dem and 5 Star seem to favor the holding of open coalition primaries a few months before the vote, so as to popularly legitimize the candidate for prime minister, in this case it is the Green Alliance and the Left that are holding back.
Thus we arrive at a self-evident truth, namely that the only thing that the broad camp really has in common is its opposition to the centre-right. It is too early to say whether this will be enough to win, political elections are certainly different from referendums.
