Schlein and Conte at the CGIL demonstration
Schlein, Conte and art small steps, but distances remain
First the sortie of Elly Schlein to the demonstration of the M5s at work, then the aperitif in a bar in Campobasso, finally the greeting under the stage of the CGIL. The path started by the two leaders is made up of small and increasingly cadenced steps, as they are trying with difficulty to overcome the tears of the recent past and also some mutual distrust between their respective ruling classes. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry called it “The art of small steps” and had turned it into a prayer. “An important journey has begun”, says Giuseppe Conte, “although there are elements of distance”, he adds immediately after in front of the journalists who waited for him in Piazza Barberini, where the M5s chief joined the CGIL demonstration in defense of the public health. Elly Schlein must have been there too, in the procession. The secretary was expected at the start of the demonstration in Piazza della Repubblica.
But when the procession has already left, the secretary is still on the train that takes her to the capital. For a prominent dem exponent it is a way not to feed stomach aches of those who, in the two parties, still don’t want to know about axes, coalitions and alliances. “There are issues that do not see us fully converging, this is evident and it is useless to repeat it every time”, admits Conte, “but ours is a path of dialogue, we are not in the finishing straight, but we will continue with great responsibility, and loyalty, keeping the bar high”. A concept that, shortly before, was also enunciated by Stefano Bonaccini. The president of the Democratic Party arrives at the procession accompanied by the ‘landlord’ Maurizio Landini and his first words are of appreciation towards the CGIL which organizes the mobilization in defense of public health, but also towards Giuseppe Conte.
“It is right to demonstrate to ask the government to change course and march” and it is “positive that Giuseppe Conte is here”. Then he dampens the momentum of the journalists who ask him if what is materializing in the square is the coalition destined to contend for the right-wing government: “We must not imagine now which alignment will be that will oppose the right next time, because they will still govern for a few years. It is therefore not tomorrow morning that we have to configure the center-left that will come, but there are some issues on which we can already imagine a political battle that can bring together all the oppositions and beyond”. Among the points, health care is perhaps the most important. A sign of openness to the Five Stars by the dem minority which has identified its point of reference in Bonaccini. Among the issues Bonaccini and Conte talk about, there is certainly public health, which figures among the seven priorities set out by Schlein and which also brings together Avs and Action-IV, as Bonaccini also underlines. Then there is work, school, home. But the theme of the day on which the M5s and the Pd meet is, above all, the government and what is happening around the minister Daniela Santanchè after her Report investigation into her activities as an entrepreneur. “Santanchè come to the courtroom, clarify and we will evaluate. We will make all the moves consequent to an unacceptable attitude”, Conte underlines to those who ask him if the 5 Star Movement will present a motion against the minister. Schlein also lasts: “While the government is moving forward on a work decree that increases precariousness, there is a minister who did not pay suppliers and workers while collecting gold payments. The Democratic Party asks Meloni to come out of silence and the minister to resign”.
The Pd, recalls the secretary, “filed a question because it seems that that same company received 2.7 million euros as a loan and did not repay it. But can a minister be in debt to the state?”, Schlein asks himself: “Refer to the courtroom. We find Meloni’s silence absurd and that Santanche”s only response was to take legal action. Unacceptable”. And Bonaccini subscribes: “I am a guarantor, but I think it is right to expect Minister Santanche’ to go to parliament to clarify, the oppositions are right about this”.
What the Pd and M5s march on separately is the position on Ukraine. The Democratic Party is in favor of supporting Kiev “by any means, including military aid”, the secretary also recently explained, however, she did not return to the subject during the CGIL march. The M5s, on the contrary, reiterates its opposition to supplying weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian government. Cone does it today too, in the light of the military action put in place by the mercenaries of the Wagner group in Rostov, inside Russian territory. “We are following the military escalation carefully, our position remains the critical one with respect to a purely military path and strategy, without a diplomatic exit strategy”. The dem secretary arrives when the procession enters Piazza del Popolo for the final rallies. She and Conte do not meet, but it is Schlein who goes looking for the M5s president when, just before getting into the car that will take her back to the station to take the train to Milan, she sees Conte leaving the stage enclosure. The two greet each other warmly and Conte lets out a joke: “We see each other every day in parliament but, as you can see, we also see each other every weekend. We do it for journalists”.
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