Yet another split in the Democratic Party over the Ukraine aid package raises questions about the party’s stability. From justice reform to the vote on surrogate motherhood, including Marco Cappato’s candidacy in the partial elections and Sara Funaro’s candidacy for the local elections in Florence, there were many occasions on which the party split. And to think that as soon as Elly Schlein became secretary she declared war on the “chiefs” and internal currents. A declaration of intent that remained unchanged in light of the results. Let’s be clear, the internal dialectic of a party is a symptom of a good state of health, the problem is that after the debate it is necessary to reach a synthesis, otherwise it becomes more of an anarchic pack than a party in which everyone votes in favor. according to conscience. As happened two days ago with the sending of weapons to Ukraine, where 8 Democratic parliamentarians voted in disagreement with the secretary’s line.
A circumstance that recalls what happened in the vote on the “Solidarity GPA”, the amendment signed by the secretary of +Europe Riccardo Magi to the government’s proposal to make surrogacy a “universal crime”. The amendment called for other people’s pregnancies to be regulated and legalized as long as, we read in the text, “it is not for commercial, altruistic, free, autonomous and voluntary purposes”. The Catholic wing of the party was pushing to vote no to universal crime, yes to transcripts for children from homoparental families and no to changing the rules in Italy regarding the AGP. After a meeting that lasted until one in the morning, however, the party did not reach a united decision and chose to leave the Chamber. Also divided on the abolition of the crime of abuse of power. The secretary’s line is against the abolition of crime, but the local administrators, with the mayor of Pesaro Matteo Ricci, that of Bari Antonio Decaro and that of Florence Dario Nardella at the forefront, are in favor of abolition.
«As ANCI says, in 97% of cases trials for abuse of power against local administrators do not reach a definitive sentence and in 85% of cases they do not even begin because they are archived. This penal system limits local administrators, who are punished whether they do things or not” declared the mayor of Florence. Concept reinforced by Ricci: «For 10 years, all Italian mayors have been asking for a review of the crime of abuse of power». A fracture that has not yet been healed. It is not the first time that Nazareno and Democratic mayors have failed to find a solution. Recently, Marco Cappato’s candidacy for the Democrats for the by-elections in Monza also aroused controversy within the local section of the Democratic Party, which wanted a name that was an expression of the territory and not a candidate taken from above.
Result? Schlein does not respond to calls, private or even public letters, preferring to continue on his way. Cappato is nominated and loses to Adriano Galliani supported by the entire center-right. Still on the topic of candidacies, how can we not point out the chaos in the race to choose the next mayor of Florence. The Democratic Party chooses not to hold primaries when nominating Sara Funaro. Former councilor Cecilia Del Re, who asked in vain to participate in the primaries, decided not to renew her membership card and created a civic list running to succeed Nardella (democratic Florence). Going back even further in time, the party was also divided over Elly Schlein’s participation in the 5-Star Movement demonstration against precariousness. On that occasion, Beppe Grillo took the stage and invited citizens to create “citizenship brigades”, putting on balaclavas at night to go and do maintenance “work” in their cities. An allusion, that of citizens covered by balaclavas, that did not please many democrats, but especially Alessio D’Amato, former regional health advisor for Lazio, who decided to leave the national assembly of the Democratic Party. Debora Serracchiani also commented on the Ligurian comedian’s statements with a dry comment: «A show that doesn’t make you laugh». More generally, the opinion that spread through some parts of the party claimed that Schlein had fallen “with all his shoes on the trap of the 5 Star Movement”. A discouraging picture of a party that found a secretary it didn’t want, let us remember that the members voted en masse for Bonaccini, and that instead of embracing the new line they decided to boycott it. Nothing new in the Dem house.
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.
