Elections, it’s Abruzzo’s turn. Meloni prepares the “Europeans” with the helmet
It is not the insults to Giorgia Meloni from the women in the square for the 8 March celebration that put the prime minister and her government in difficulty. It is a fact that, as demonstrated in the recent regional elections in Sardinia, the center-right no longer has the wind in its sails and is struggling in the latest national political polls (Tecnè) with the Pd (20.3%) catching up on Fdl (27.7%) with only 5 points separating the wide field (Pd, M5S, Avs: (40.2%) from the centre-right (Fdl, FI, League: 45.8%). Schlein and Conte have boosted the Sardinian result of two weeks ago and are now hoping for an encore of the regionals on March 10th in Abruzzo thus giving a political meaning that goes far beyond the choice of the new president of the region.
For Abruzzo, Pd and 5Stelle also focus on the fact that the centre-right candidate Marsilio is a parachute, being Roman and still living in the capital. History also helps: the outgoing governor, in Abruzzo, never obtained reconfirmation. There is no electoral automaticity between the vote in Sardinia and that in Abruzzo but there are those who hope and there are those who fear that this will happen before the elections in Basilicata on 21-22 April in view of the much more significant European elections of 8 -June 9th. How much will territorial problems have an impact on national ones? Abruzzo has infrastructure and land management problems, an economic gap that places it at growth levels similar to those of the South, even lower: 27 thousand euros of gross domestic product per capita. The electoral campaign took place on these issues, as well as on the health issue. We will see if here too, as in Sardinia, the internal political games between the parties, the rivalries and so on, will be decisive, all the ambaradans that in the end can be decisive, not taking into account the national framework.
However, whatever happens, Schlein and Conte know well that the national political elections (and the next European elections in June) are a different story. Keeping the Pd and the parties of Conte, Calenda&C together may also be possible as an extra-territorial electoral agreement but it becomes a desperate undertaking as a government team. Where are the contents? There is no common political line nor a common political project. Campo Largo is today a political illusion of Schlein and a piece of the Democratic Party and surrounding areas without even the “political nobility” of Berlinguer’s project of historical compromise, which however failed.
Schlein and Conte proceed tentatively hoping that after the victory in Sardinia there will be an encore in Abruzzo. But would it be good for the PD and 5 Star Movement themselves, for the opposition and, above all, for the country?
On the opposite front, Meloni and his government are not sailing in calm waters. Yesterday the prime minister said on TV: “I have a helmet, I wear it even when I sleep because the spiteful, rancorous nature of our adversaries is emerging and this makes me imagine that a bit of everything will happen, but it doesn’t worry me because I consensus is important.” Is this really the right way to keep the government and, above all, the country on its feet? Trust must be recovered with adequate political choices, not by chasing consensus, which is largely determined by emotional factors, mostly irrational and momentary, ever-changing and evanescent. But the adversaries are weak, confused and, when it comes to resolving major issues, such as international ones, divided. So Meloni can keep his helmet. To bed.