“Next year’s elections must take place at the natural expiry of the legislature, in the spring of next year, to give the government the opportunity to fully carry out its mission”. Enrico Letta said this to the leadership of the Democratic Party. The secretary explained that “this experience of government and what is happening on the issue of rights confirms our alternation with the right. But I am convinced that self-sufficiency is not a symptom of strength, but of weakness. This search for alliances must be carried out whatever the electoral law with which we will vote “. “Our party – he added – is largely consensual around the idea of changing the electoral law, all the more so in light of the cut in parliamentarians”.
Ukraine, Letta: “We want lasting peace; whoever is with Orban is automatically allied with Putin”
And on the war in Ukraine he said that “true peace means pushing for peace to arrive under possible conditions, especially this push that the Italian government is carrying out and that we strongly want. We will say that on Thursday when the premier comes to Parliament. The conditions today for a true peace are there thanks to the choices we have made in recent days “, added Letta:” Difficult but necessary choices. Today it is necessary to continue to be united around Europe and around the government ». While on the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO he remarked “yes convinced with this caveat: it is up to the European Union to build a new European architecture, not to NATO”. «Hence – he specified – our proposal for a European Confederation. We have to get to the convocation of the European Convention to get to the elimination of the right of veto ».
Letta’s report was unanimously approved by the party leadership. For Letta, «in the last few weeks, a story that repeats itself has begun again: after the French elections a film has started again for which we must be the ones who copy someone. Now we have to choose whether to be Macron or Melenchon. I have the ambition to have the ability to be innovators and models for Europe ». “We do not want to be faded copies of the choices of others”, she added, recalling however that “Italy is in an objective difficulty on issues of rights. Ours is a commitment for today and tomorrow for a society that is the pivot of a modern humanism ».
But the electoral law and its eventual modification remain central, which for the Pd secretary is “fundamental”: “With the current electoral law and with the cut of the parliamentarians, I believe we would go towards a worse election campaign, for how I understand politics, and the Italians would vote only for the party leaders, without territorial representation which instead I believe is fundamental. For this we must ensure that we arrive at a new electoral law, but not to change the alliances. A change of electoral law is fundamental ».
On the issue of referendums, the secretary said: «We will have referendums on 12 June and I think it is important to continue reflection. The Democratic Party is not a barracks, the freedom of individuals remains and even more so on a theme such as justice. It is not with the referendums that a comprehensive reform is made. I’m interested in saying that we are the progressives, the reformers. We must not have a psychological subjection to proposals that come from seven regional center-right councils. A yes victory in the referendums would open more problems than it would solve ». And on this he added: “The question of identity and alliances concerns our strength and I would like our management, in a phase in which the electoral campaign for administrative offices has started, to make us aware of the responsibility we have in front of us”. “Our strength – he added – is also valid for our party, for its territorial articulation, for the work being done in the territories. In recent months the discussion is on the changes introduced, such as that of joining the party, for maximum transparency on the forms of membership. This first phase helped us understand those are the changes to be made. Membership is part of the way of being of our party and it is important to grasp some suggestions for adjustment from the territories, to ensure that we combine transparency and a strong ability to mobilize our participation in the territories “. In view of the alliances, the next administrative elections will be fundamental: “They are the first real test and, in many cases, there are wide-field alliances in the municipalities”.
The commitment of the Democratic Party, assured the secretary, however, is on civil rights. «Today May 17th is the world day against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. Last week our commitment to the Zan bill resumed. Just 32 years ago, WHO deleted homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses. Things have matured a lot, but our commitment to rights, for the approval of a law against hate crimes, with the three agora that we have launched, is for a more modern and more inclusive Italy. Diversity means wealth, we are still one of the most backward countries in terms of standards ».