If we needed concrete proof of the mismatch between the Democratic Party and its voters with the victory of Elly Schlein, we have no more doubts. After the results of the circles, in which the governor of Emilia Romagna had triumphed over Schlein, collecting 52.9% of the preferences, within the party Bonaccini’s victory now seemed obvious. But then came the voters’ vote, and no, which subverted all predictions: Schlein 53.73%, Bonaccini 46.25%. “We made a revolution. And this time they didn’t see us coming either,” said the new secretary. A blow to the party cadres who had now taken Bonaccini’s investiture for granted before the gazebos repudiated the circles. But where did Schlein win? Certainly in the big cities. Mainly in Milan, where Italian-Swiss received 72% of the preferences, then in Turin, Bologna, Genoa and Rome. Big cities, but also in the regions since at the end of the day there will be 20, 14 in which the new secretary is in charge of his competitor. In fact, Schlein wins in every northern region except Valle d’Aosta. He wins in Tuscany, despite Nardella working for Bonaccini, and in Lazio.
And even where it lost, as in Sardinia and Puglia, it maintained 40%. And precisely the participation in those regions where the governor of Emilia Romagna hoped to obtain so many votes, mainly thanks to the work of local administrators and governors, was one of the main ingredients for Schlein’s victory. Bonaccini wins in Sardinia but loses in Sicily, where the leader of Occupy Pd won 57% of the preferences. «It is an overwhelming wave that nobody believed. A wave of hope”, rejoices Franceschini, one of the few big names who immediately understood the voters’ desire for change. Schlein not only contradicts the members, but also those who thought he would have mainly collected the youth votes. The final result shows that the new secretary obtained the highest number of preferences in the age group above 50 years old, around 55%, and in the age group from 35 to 54 years old, around 40%. The last element that contributed to the Italian-Swiss victory is certainly the turnout. A turnout below the last primaries, with just over 1 million voters, but enough to “dilute” the votes of the deputies.
To recapitulate: Schlein won because in the eyes of the voters she was the candidate that the party baptized as the loser, she won because she was voted for massively in the north, because they voted for her in the big cities, because she didn’t collapse where her opponent won, and above all because managed to collect the vote of those over 50 years old, but also those over 35. There is also another point that may have weighed. While within the Democratic Party the idea was to ensure continuity between the old and the new, among voters there was a strong desire for the opposite. And above all there was the desire to pit a female lead like Giorgia Meloni against a counterpart of the same type. A detail that even researcher Nicola Piepoli, speaking with Adnkronos, wanted to underline: “The winner of the primaries proved to be a worthy competitor for Meloni… One million votes is a representative number of the situation of the Democratic Party and of the partisan public opinion.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
