Andrea Orlando, PD leader. After Marche and Calabria, the center-left was given up for dead. Now, after Tuscany, have you suddenly been resurrected?
I have never been convinced by the idea of voting in national test regions and accounting that ignores the volatility of voter turnout. However, one political fact must be understood: with this coalition and these results, many constituencies lost in 2022 have become contestable again. It escapes me why the coalition continues to be a topic of discussion: it is necessary, otherwise it ends up like 3 years ago in the elections. If anything, the discussion should be on how the alliance can take on subjectivity, we need to make it the basis for a country project.
What is the center-left missing?
We need to sit at a table with a method, each political force must indicate 2-3 central axes of the program and open a discussion with society to say what we are. We have done it in the regions, now we need to proceed at a national level.
Should we expect the usual agenda of progressives, or something more radical?
We are obliged to propose something profoundly innovative. We cannot run to govern the current system, but to change it. As can be seen from the Istat data on poverty, the current structure of the Italian economic system excludes a large portion of the population: even those who work are now left outside the door. If we limited ourselves to making the current system, which produces inequalities and social unrest, work a little better, we risk being identified as one of the causes. As happened to Macron: elite reformism has become the worst enemy of liberal democracies.
What are the essential recipes?
The first objective is the reindustrialization of Italy, which provides support for public policies and the valorization of innovation and work. With these data on poverty, no one in their right mind can think that the redistribution of wealth does not come first. We have a great opportunity: the right, after having thundered for years against multinationals and banks, has shown all its subordination to the financial powers and US technocapitalism. A great space has thus opened up for those who want to defend social equity and the national interest. This issue of protection concerns both workers and entrepreneurs.
The M5S had disappointing results in the regions. Could this create problems for the coalition?
If you look at the historical series, you can see that the 5s have always had lower results in the regional elections and in the Municipalities compared to the national elections. And it is even normal for a force that does not want to be a traditional party, but maintains a movementist stance. It doesn’t surprise me that some of their voters only mobilize in national competitions. However, I believe that the alliance should be experienced by everyone not as a necessity but as an opportunity.
It has been said that in Tuscany you won because there was a strong moderate leg.
I believe that a liberal area outside the Democratic Party can have its own function. But let’s not make it an autumn catchphrase. Just as the choice of leadership is not: the project comes first, even if it is legitimate that the most important force in the coalition can aspire to leadership.
The upcoming budget already presents itself as a hot topic with respect to issues such as wages and internal demand.
The right came into government thundering against the Fornero reform and the dictatorship of the spread. And now they are raising the requirements on pensions, and the only result they are demanding is a balanced budget. There is more attention to finance than to the real economy, on which there will be nothing to be done: from wages to housing to support for businesses. Meloni said in 2022 that he didn’t want to disturb those who produce, in reality he left the companies alone, while in our other competitor countries there is strong public support, starting with interventions on the cost of energy.
On the right they still discuss taxing the banks.
Last year they blew the whistle giving birth to a phantom tax, today the film is the same: for this government the banks are the only entity in Italy that can decide on their own taxation. I don’t think they will inflict painful interventions on themselves.
Do you trust the peace announced by Trump in the Middle East?
The ceasefire in Gaza is the first request of the millions of citizens who took to the streets and I welcome it as a positive fact. Trump must be recognized for having been able to influence Israel more than his predecessor, despite having been co-responsible for the massacres in Gaza. However, it must be said that in Sharm el-Sheikh there was no real representation of the Palestinians, if we exclude Hamas. I don’t know if Turkey and the Arab and Muslim countries will really take care of the needs of the Palestinians. At present it is premature to say whether it is a peace process or a neocolonial project.
