Pietro Nenni liked to say that, if it is true that politics cannot be done with feelings, it is even more true that it cannot be done with resentments. I would suggest to Enrico Letta (and maybe even a Carlo Calenda) to reflect on these words of the old socialist leader because it seems just that in his relationship with Matteo Renzi and with Italia Viva it is personal resentment that prevails more than the political reason, even if the electoral games are still open and in the last few hours the secretary of the Democratic Party has said he wants to "veto anyone".
Reformist camp: who is outside and who is inside
In the aftermath of the defenestration of Dragons, Letta had proclaimed with a certain solemnity and unusual clarity that in the reformist camp there was no place for populists and sovereignists. In practice, if in Europe Melenchon on one side and Orban on the other are outside this field, in Italy, in addition to Salvini and Meloni, they are out of the 5Stelle ei groups of the extreme left of Fratoianni and Bonelli.
On the other hand, all those who have are fully part of it supported the Draghi government with loyalty and conviction and who opposed his defenestration. Therefore, in addition to the Democratic Party, Calenda's Action, plus Bonino's Europe, Renzi's Italia Viva and Di Maio's new grouping, as well as those who, like Brunetta, Gelmini and Carfagna, have left Forza Italia because they do not intend to more support the sovereign front.
The Democratic Party between Speranza, Fratoianni and Calenda
Who is it for the burden of federating this area? Strictly speaking, it should be up to the Democratic Party and Letta. But that doesn't seem to be the case. Letta's first move was to recover Hope and the castaways of Article One who, it is said in parentheses, were those who, under the guidance of Massimo D'Alema and Pierluigi Bersani, promoted a movement for No to the institutional reforms of the Renzi government of which they belonged and which as deputies they had voted for. And they did so while they were still inside the party, which in D'Alema's PDS would have cost them immediate expulsion.
Perhaps Letta who comes from DC did not realize it but with this magnanimous gesture he actually has replicated an old communist liturgy. In the PCI whoever came out from the right (starting with Cucchi and Magnani who dared to criticize Palmiro Togliatti) was a "traitor" while whoever came out from the left was considered "a comrade who makes mistakes”, which can always be recovered.
The different attitude of the Pd towards Bersani (understanding and recovery) and that reserved for Renzi (a hatred that not even Craxi has had the opportunity to know with such intensity) says a lot about what is brewing in the post-communist wing of the Pd ( Orlando, Provenzano and others).
The second and even more significant move was against Fratoianni's Italian Left and Bonelli's Verdi. There is not a single point on the Draghi agenda that they share and there is not a single point of possible convergence between Bonelli's vegan-Thunbergian agenda and that of the Democratic Party, not to mention that of Cingolani. What added value does it bring to the reformist camp this convergence? None, and not even a vote. The only thing it does is give a sop to the left of the Democratic Party.
But even the comparison with Action of Calenda does not seem to go as it should, perhaps thanks to his bad character which leads him to give precedence to completely secondary issues, such as the mandatory professional skills of future undersecretaries, instead of concentrating on the real issues to be resolved in the field of energy policy (exploitation of the National gas and nuclear power), in that of work (revision of the basic income and reform of the labor market), of justice, of the tax authorities and so on.
The confrontation between Renzi and the Pd
The confrontation within the reformist area must serve to overcome ambiguities and to clarify the many "unsaid". Only in this way can solid convergences be achieved such as those achieved after long negotiations by the German parties when they coalesce to govern.
With Renzi, on the other hand, the confrontation does not seem to have even begun. Nevertheless Renzi is the one who paved the way for Draghi. If Zingaretti and Orlando's attempt to recruit the so-called leaders discovered by Ciampolillo had succeeded, we would still have the Conte bis government.
Renzi is also the one who most courageously faced the problem of institutional reforms and the modernization of the country and which brought the Democratic Party to 40% of the votes in the European elections.
Why then not also confront him and Italia Viva? It is said that he is a difficult interlocutor, but Calenda is certainly no less so. It seems to me that the real reason lies in the fact that confronting him (but the same goes for Calenda) runs the risk of lay bare the contradictions that exist in the Democratic Party on some crucial issues in the field of economic and social policy. This is how we prefer to gloss over these things and make excuses: it's unpopular, it doesn't bring votes or even makes us lose them. In short, meanness.
Having reached this point, and seeing that Letta wants to be the front runner of the Democratic Party but he resolutely rejects the role of federator of the reformist area, the problem arises of who could fulfill this role and the most obvious answer is that this role belongs above all to Calenda but also to Renzi.
Between Letta's Pd and Salvini's League there is a vast area that should unite to participate jointly in the elections, leaving open the way for a political alliance with the Pd after the elections given that before, due to the pre-eminent responsibility of the Pd, this does not seem be possible or is it very difficult anyway. Find an agreement on the programmatic platform declining the Draghi agenda shouldn't be a problem, just as the organizational forms in which this Republican Alliance can materialize can be reasonably found, in the interest of the country and of our democracy. Unless of course you want to.
