Matteo Renzi gear up and launch the congress before the elections. Anyone who wants to challenge him should come forward, but respect the result and lend a hand to the winner. No secessionist will on his part, but those who want to leave don't use the alibi of the calendar. The former Premier never pronounces the long-awaited word "resignation", displacing the minority who expected a formal resignation of the mandate: "A cycle at the helm of the Democratic Party is closing", declared the secretary.
It is a very tense direction, also extended to local parliamentarians and secretaries, called for the purpose of staging the long-awaited showdown after the heavy defeat in the referendum and drawing up the road map to be followed in the coming months. The goal is clear: to relaunch the Democratic Party, identified as the only true party of change and stem the populist wave that is flooding Italy and Europe. At the end of the meeting, the majority motion largely passed: the national assembly will be held next weekend, which will have to "start the congressional process with the same rules as in 2013". The minority motion was not voted as it passed. Bersani D'Alema, Boccia vote no to the secretary's line. The Minister of Justice, Orlando, who until now was considered in the majority, surprisingly abstains.
The Democrats were called to discuss numerous issues: from the party's leadership to the date of the vote, passing through the danger of a split feared a few weeks ago by Massimo D'Alema and the minority of the Democratic Party. Also present at the event were the current prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, and ministers Graziano Delrio, Andrea Orlando and Dario Franceschini. Also seated in the front rows are the "great opponents": Pier Luigi Bersani and Massimo D'Alema. The former intervened, the latter did not.
Matteo Renzi takes the floor immediately and goes on the attack, launching the challenge to the internal "adversaries": "After December 4th the hands of politics have turned back, almost to the times of the First Republic. Fireplaces and self-referential discussions are back. The main question in the Democratic Party is how long the government lasts, with a policy especially in our house based on quarrels rather than proposals. Showdown in the Democratic Party? That's enough, friends and comrades, let's get it right ". To those who accuse him of not having discussed the failed referendum sufficiently, the former Premier replies: “We've done the analysis of the vote: I paid the pledge, I resigned. If the main error of the electoral campaign was the personalization, I also avoided the personalization of the post-referendum”.
The secretary of the PD analyzes the national and international political reality: "If we look outside of us, Sel is about to split up, Salvini and Berlusconi are arguing, the Five Stars are torn apart inside them with a ferocity unimaginable until a few weeks ago”.
After a long preamble that raises suspense in which he deals with numerous topics (from China to Donald Trump's USA, up to Marine Le Pen's electoral campaign), Renzi arrives at one of the main topics of the day: the split, which he defines as a "moral blackmail" of those who support it. “In this context, what is the largest party of the European left doing? Do you discuss the split and on what basis? If the secretary does not hold the congress before the elections, will it be a split? It's moral blackmail. It is common sense on the part of those with community leadership responsibilities to accept an invitation to the convention before an election. I don't want splits, but if there has to be a split, let it be a split without an alibi”.
Then a first lunge at internal opponents: “Many think that the Congress of the Democratic Party must find an alternative to Renzism. Too simple” – he continues – “To my minority friends I want to say I'm sorry if I'm your nightmare, but for us you will never be our opponents. Our opponents are not in this room."
Renzi does not even spare the European Union: “This Europe must be told that the time for duplicity is over, for which we close our eyes to what is happening in Italy, but raise our voices for what Trump is doing. I don't want to violate the European rules, I want to change the European rules if possible, I watch Schulz with interest, the elections in Germany, he has put a stop to austerity”.
And again: “Europe can't just be the schoolteacher I'm asking for 0,2, among other things it got the wrong moment. Of course we have to find an understanding with Europe, but what is crucial is that Europe is not just this stuff here”.
Eventually we get to the point: “I will never be the keeper of the fireplaces, I prefer the open sea of challenge to the swamp. Let's have the congress and whoever loses the day after lend a hand, don't run away with the ball, don't leave the one who wins the primaries alone, don't do what happened in Rome ". More: "The exercise of internal democracy is not just asking for the congress, it is respecting the outcome of the vote".
What he means is clear: Matteo Renzi asks for Congress, with the same rules as in 2013, but takes a step back on the elections: "I don't decide the date of the vote". However, the former Premier separates the two things: Congress is one thing, elections are another. "From here to a year we will have to vote, let's be ready".
The secretary confirms loyalty to Gentiloni: "The premier must have the utmost esteem from the entire Democratic Party". The speech ends with best wishes to those who have decided to run for leadership of the party, namely Emiliano, Rossi and Speranza: “If they win, I will be the first to congratulate them. It will be fascinating to be able to compare”.
Once Renzi's speech was concluded, Gianni Cuperlo and Graziano Delrio took the floor. Then it's time to Pierluigi Bersani who seems to have put aside the split wills of the last few weeks. The former secretary outlines what he thinks is the way forward: let Gentiloni govern, make an electoral law by June and then start the congress. Let the government govern, by June the electoral law will be passed and in June, with calm, the practice of the congress will start: “Am I saying nonsense? I'm not speaking as a Bersanian, but as an Italian. If we decide otherwise, cooked and eaten, a very serious problem arises. When you govern, you don't put Italy in the blender. Whoever has more common sense, put it there”.
“Creating X hours – continued the minority leader – has decisive appointments brought us good? The country thinks we govern. Those who govern must convey security, linearity, not anxiety. First of all the country. The first thing we have to say is when we vote. Don't tell me, Matteo, that it's something for insiders. We rule. We can leave a question mark on the fate of our government. Let's get Italy into trouble. Do we say that we guarantee the normal conclusion of the legislature? We cannot leave the question mark or speak like the Sibyl, we have to say something precise about this and we have to say it here”, Bersani insisted. The governor of Puglia Emiliano instead ran for the secretariat as an alternative to Renzi. But the congress will decide on this.
