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The time for the center-left's program discussion for the 2027 elections seems to be approaching. The Democratic Party, which will hold its Executive Committee meeting today at 11:00 a.m., has scheduled its national assembly for Sunday, October 18th, at the Nuvola in the EUR district. On the same day, AVS will present its program points in Rome. This series of steps, once completed, should lead to a discussion on the program priorities for the next general election.
After Nova, the Five Star Movement is ready, Giuseppe Conte has been repeating for days. "We've been ready for months," says Nicola Fratoianni. Today, the Democratic Party's leadership will review the dossiers completed in recent months, starting with the Democratic Party's voter engagement campaign, which included several thematic events across Italy dedicated to jobs, education, healthcare, and security.
In short, everyone has done their part, and the discussion could now begin. But which political forces will be called upon to participate?
On Wednesday, during the Democratic Party secretariat meeting with Elly Schlein, the program and the scope of that discussion were discussed. For the Democrats, the program must be written with everyone: the Democratic Party, the Five Star Movement, the AVS, and even the moderate and centrist forces.
"For me," Fratoianni replies, "what I've said a thousand times is that the meeting is held with all those who are interested and determined to build an alternative to Meloni. It's the program that defines the profile and scope of the coalition; it's the things we decide to prioritize that define who agrees on those things." Conte, pressed by reporters in the Chamber, responds with a quip: "A meeting with the centrists? We're all Five Star Movement members at the meeting..." he jokes, heading to lunch with his followers.
The M5S leader, however, delivered a message to his allies yesterday. "I have declared my willingness from the beginning to explore the possibility of a third name, authentically progressive and competitive, compared to that of the leaders. But there was no willingness to explore this path, the proposal was rejected, and today we face the primaries. Will they be divisive? It depends on how we all interpret them. We will have to work patiently and diligently to prevent this from happening," Conte said, speaking at the presentation of a book with Fratoianni. Avs makes no secret of its skepticism about the primaries. But the possibility of a third name, a unifier or a foreign pope, has never been among the options put on the table by the Democratic Party leaders. The Democrats recall that Schlein has always proposed two paths for choosing a leader: either the leader of the most popular party or the primaries.
For centrists and primaries, the key issue will be the electoral law, according to the Nazareno party. If the center-right reform passes, a candidate for prime minister will be designated, and then a decision will need to be made on how to do so. And on the centrist front, there's the issue of signatures. Those parties not already represented in Parliament, like Alessandro Onorato's Progetto Civico, will have to collect 6000 signatures per constituency under the new law, for a total of approximately 300—a huge sum.
Among the centrists, only Matteo Renzi's Casa Riformista will not need to collect signatures because it already has parliamentary groups. The other parties in the area—from Più Europa with Riccardo Magi, to Progetto Civico, to the experiences of Ernesto Ruffini and Vincenzo Spadafora—could await the outcome of the appeals to the Constitutional Court on the electoral law, already announced, and see if the increased signature threshold will be deemed unconstitutional. Alternatively, they would be exempt from collecting signatures if they ran on a single list with Casa Riformista. But at the moment, no such political agreement exists. Andrea Orlando urges: "It's right to give the center a chance, it's right to wait for them to organize, but not indefinitely."
Also because there are issues to resolve at the program table. And the most divisive is the shipment of weapons to Ukraine. Goffredo Bettini has put forward a proposal. "If a genuine process of agreement and truce is initiated, during that process it is entirely legitimate and appropriate to support the part of Ukraine that is still free, with defensive weapons: weapons that prevent, during the negotiations, further harm to the Ukrainian people." Could this be the basis for an agreement in the progressive camp? Conte doesn't think so. "Bettini calls for a different role for Europe than that of a patrol of the Willing waging a proxy war. We need a turning point." On this point, "I sense a mandate from a large segment of the public who are calling for a change of pace. Help Ukraine, yes, but not with the same methods as before, with the shipment of weapons, if we want to be the advocates of a turning point in the negotiations." So, no to Bettini's proposal on defensive weapons? “You can’t herald a turning point by continuing to send weapons as usual,” responds the M5S leader.
Among the reformist Democratic Party (PD) members, Bettini's exit isn't being taken into consideration. Filippo Sensi wrote on social media: "I read that our scholars, doctors, and wise men are racking their brains to find the most hypocritical formula possible to convince Vannacci's closest allies on Ukraine. Call them Eugenio, we'll give them." Weapons, it goes without saying. For the reformists, support for Kiev is a red line, and they'll reiterate this tomorrow in the leadership meeting. Will you push for two-round primaries and perhaps Giorgio Gori's candidacy in the primaries? "We'll see; what matters is that the PD wins."
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