Lucrezia Ciotti The center-left is grappling with internal divisions and difficulty finding shared leadership in the upcoming elections. Silvia Salis , mayor of Genoa, weighs in on the future of the broad field. In an interview with 7 , the Corriere della Sera weekly , she criticizes the parties' management of their ambitions and raises doubts about the primaries, proposing an alternative method for identifying the prime ministerial candidate.
Schlein, Conte, and the succession issue: who will lead the field?
For Salis , the center-left must first agree on leadership, preventing personal ambitions from fueling new divisions. " The center-left lacks a recognized leader ," he adds. " And a leadership culture is lacking. There are many people who think they can do that job, but since they can't agree, they decide to open an internal competition ."
The dispute concerns Elly Schlein and Giuseppe Conte, but also the reformist and AVS components, who are demanding representation in the future coalition leadership. " PD secretary Elly Schlein has legitimate ambitions ," Salis explains, " as does Giuseppe Conte, who has already been prime minister twice, despite being ten points behind the PD."
And then there is the reformist world and that of Avs, who have the right to recognize themselves in a leadership ."
The mayor then compared the balance of power between the two sides, emphasizing how the weight gained by the Brothers of Italy party has changed the balance of power within the center-right. " On the right, the main party, the Brothers of Italy, has cannibalized the others. We, on the other hand, have fragmented the Democratic Party ." According to Salis, internal tensions within the Democrats have limited the party's growth potential, making it more difficult to consolidate support among voters. Hence her criticism of the management of different political sensibilities: " If the Democratic Party had been more inclusive and contained internal tensions, today it would be a party that would have no problem reaching 30 percent ."
Silvia Salis attacks the center-left: "We risk a civil war at the polling stations."
The difficulties of the progressive camp are not limited to the political differences between the various forces: according to Silvia Salis, the real obstacle is also the lack of agreement on who should represent the entire coalition.
In her reasoning, the pursuit of unity has transformed into a difficult-to-maintain balance, in which each party seeks to protect its own identity and ambitions. The possibility of building a political proposal capable of decisively pursuing victory would suffer . " Because over the decades, it has developed extremely powerful antibodies against victory. There is dissatisfaction with the figure of the leader. And there is the perverse mechanism of having to break down the peculiarities of each party to keep everyone together. And almost the idea that the very concept of victory is something right-wing ," observes the mayor.
Salis's considerations take on a particularly stark significance when it comes to the method of selecting the prime ministerial candidate. The mayor fears that a public contest between the various leadership contenders could transform political differences into a conflict that will be difficult to resolve. Her concern is summed up in one sentence: " We risk a civil war at the polling stations ."
As an alternative to a competition between candidates, Salis suggests a path based on an agreement between the main party representatives. The leader should be chosen " by the center-left political leaders, in a room. That's how the parties that worked worked ." The idea is that a preliminary discussion between the leaders could allow them to assess the balance of power and reach a shared solution.
Silvia Salis and her potential prime ministerial candidacy: "I was elected to govern Genoa."
The interview finally addresses rumors about a possible national future for the mayor of Genoa. When asked by Claudio Bozza whether she would be willing to run for government leadership if requested by broader political leaders, Salis recalls the responsibilities of her current role. " I've said no to everything. I have a role; I was elected to govern Genoa. I will campaign for the center-left, tirelessly. But as mayor ."