Despite calls for progress becoming increasingly pressing, Elly Schlein’s position regarding her candidacy does not change: first the project, then the names. About this, he says «there is nothing new. First the project, then the team and lastly the names. I was clear from the beginning that “application” remains the last thing.” Words that allow us to imagine long times. Much more than the start of the campaign that the secretary marked with the stop at the Casino, Saturday, January 27th. A choice with a strong symbolic meaning: it is the day of remembrance and the eightieth anniversary of the bombing of the abbey, one of the most dramatic events of the Second World War. Cassino will be the first of six stages, «six different symbolic places in the country, putting us to work as a party, civil society, union forces and categories, experts and activists, to write together our project for Europe».
An itinerary that will culminate with the PSE congress in Rome, on March 1st and 2nd. On this occasion, in addition to the names of the candidates, the official inauguration of Nicolas Schmit as PES candidate for the presidency of the European Commission will also arrive. Whether Schlein will be at the game will be known at that time. Or right before. Because, as deputy Toni Ricciardi reminds us, “the secretary will choose”, but always through a “confrontation within the party’s statutory bodies”. In other words, a management meeting. At this moment, the convening of the Democratic parliament is not on the horizon, but the Democrats are already divided between those who are in favor and those who are against Schlein’s entry into the field.
The mayors of Pesaro and Florence, Matteo Ricci and Dario Nardella, say they are in favor of Schlein’s entry into the field, as does the deputy and vice-president of the party Chiara Gribaudo. The No Front is broader, led by Stefano Bonaccini, but which found an important ‘testimony’ in Romano Prodi. What everyone, or almost everyone, agrees on is that Schlein should stop delaying as soon as possible, in one sense or another. Schlein continues to wait and continues with the phrase “first the project, then the names”. And this despite the fact that the beginning of contacts between Meloni and Schlein’s team led even the deputies present at the seminar on Europe in Gubbio to think that white smoke was now imminent.
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.
