The Democratic Party is holding up but "doesn't take into account its history, chasing the 5 Stars is madness and Schlein is a catastrophe": De Giovanni speaks

High-ranking intellectual, philosopher, national and European parliamentarian, former professor and rector of the Oriental University of Naples, Biagio de Giovanni he is a keen observer of how political formations change. FIRSTonline asked him about the Democratic Party and how it is facing the latest of its transformations. Here is his interview. 

Professor, the Democratic Party has long been at the crossroads between renewing itself or perishing but, despite the flat defeat of the last political elections, the long and convoluted congressional phase does not seem to have given a convincing answer so far on identity and future strategy. In your opinion, is the Democratic Party still in time to return to the political scene or will it have to resign itself to decline?

"Before going into the substance of the question, if you will allow me, I would like to make an observation on abstention, the phenomenon that characterized the last regional elections more than the result of the vote itself: only 41,6% of voters went to the polls in Lombardy and 37% in Lazio. A huge and essentially anomalous abstention. We are witnessing, without really being aware of it, the end of representative democracy. And I find the causes in two phenomena that are profoundly changing our community. The main one is that contemporary societies are no longer representable. That is, they no longer have the connected structure, connected by class, solidarity, large groups, large parties, for which representation remains far-fetched. A candidate can get 6% of the vote today and 40% tomorrow: how is that possible? Isn't this a visible sign of the crisis of representation? The second cause of the end of representative democracy is linked to digital culture. No one who practices this culture feels represented or needs representation. He wants to choose directly. This is where representative democracy dies. In elections that have less impact, such as the regional ones, this phenomenon is already taking place. But this is the real problem of the future, because it will happen again, and also in the major electoral appointments".

And we come to the Pd…  

“After the vote in Lombardy and Lazio, net of the defeat of the coalitions, the Democratic Party has reached 20%. That is, it has kept a lot, indeed, in part, it was even surprising. I, like others, assumed it would stay below this figure. And here we must stop to make a political analysis that concerns the whole area of ​​the center left: in the meantime the 5 Star Movement has collapsed. That is, the hypothesis that Conte was pursuing with tactical intelligence, i.e. the attempt to replace the Democratic Party on the left, has failed. Make a takeover bid on the Democratic Party, as has been said, so as to be able to seize it in the coming years. This drawing was canceled by vote. And the Third Pole of Renzi and Calenda did not take off in this electoral round. In conclusion, the Pd is once again confirmed as the cornerstone of a possible, future, distant alliance in the centre-left. But the party has yet to find itself. It would be a starting point to understand that votes were earned in the big northern cities. And this is more an ideological and cultural sign than an economic one. In short, we are talking about a vote of opinion of a bourgeoisie not yet willing to give in on the level of some values ​​and perspectives. But how long can this hold up? And what will be the projects that will allow the Democratic Party to consolidate this block that is still so generous towards it? I remain skeptical, but we will see”.  

What is, in your opinion, the real dark evil of the Democratic Party? The inability to fully implement a clear reformist strategy and to liquidate any temptation to populism and maximalism, the excessive power of currents, or what else?

“The dark evil is still there, but it is not of today, it was born when the Democratic Party was born. How was it possible to imagine that two defeated political traditions, DC and PCI, would come together to form a party? After fighting for 50 years: unimaginable. The truth is that even before founding another party, at least the part that recognized itself in the PCI, had to come to terms with its own history, above all with the bankruptcy of 1917. Instead, a new entity was preferred which would have allowed it to float between one line and another, one time more maximalist, another even more liberal and changing. And yet the latest electoral result, I repeat 20% and not 14 or 15% as imagined, makes it clear that in a certain area of ​​society the Democratic Party is still seen as an ineliminable key to change. In short, the dark evil is very present, and is still linked to the party's inability to come to terms with its own history, in a profound, serious sense and in the face of the fact that even the concept of left and right must be rethought in their meaning" .  

How much do currents weigh in all this? 

“But the Democratic Party is made up only of currents, each exponent has its own current. However, the problem is not so much this, for me the main problem of the Democratic Party is the fact that there is a majority of the party still alive, less than before, but still alive, which thinks that its destiny is the alliance with the Five stars. I have always thought that the Democratic Party would have had a prairie ahead if it had launched a takeover bid for the liberal centre. Naturally maintaining the characteristic of a leftist and reformist party. The serious mistake was, and is, to get close to this Movement that we don't know what it is: they govern now with the League, now with the Democratic Party, now alone. In my opinion, Conte is a political adventurer. If the Democratic Party relies on these forces, it truly no longer has a role. It has to break away, the 5 Star Movement is a political enemy. In some writings I have defined it as the "cancer" of Italian democracy: for how it was born, for how it acts, for how it changes. As I see it, beyond currents, the Democratic Party should not hesitate to define its identity by relaunching democratic liberalism which is in a dramatic crisis, harshly criticizing the politics of the M5Stelle, and thus try to see which piece of company manages to aggregate with this policy. It's not necessarily a success, I understand that. But it would be a good fight. Better than that of getting on the bandwagon without qualities of the M5Stelle.”     

We come to the congress: what does the Democratic Party expect if Bonaccini wins the congress or if Schlein surprisingly prevails? Many think that with Bonaccini as secretary the way would be paved for the construction of a reformist area that from the Democratic Party reaches Calenda and Renzi, while there are those who think that Schlein's victory would inevitably lead to a merger with the Five Stars. What do you think? 

“I hope Bonaccini wins. For me Schlein is a catastrophe, I dare say an infiltrator of the 5Stelle. Bonaccini is a good regional president, he can represent a good transition until a management group is born that has a longer vision. And so yes, if Bonaccini wins, I think it is possible to build this vast reformist area. But Renzi and Calenda come out of these elections very badly, they have to make an effort. And says one who has chosen them in the past policies. Either they start thinking about this creature seriously, or the experience will dry up. Meanwhile Renzi has disappeared, I no longer feel he is a leader. It is as if he understood by himself, given that he is one of the few political talents born in recent years, that his time was over. Even if everything remains to be seen, in politics there are almost never absolute certainties about the future, neither about men nor their products." 

Differentiated autonomy: what do you think?  

“It is the theme that will explode in the coming months. The two Italys are separating. There is no longer a culture that speaks of the South. The past obviously has passed, now we need a new thought, which doesn't exist. So one can be dominated by a differentiated autonomy which makes the split of Italy in two official. It's a huge problem that the Democratic Party, but not only that, will have to get a handle on ". 

Does it not seem paradoxical to you that even the reformist Bonaccini, while understanding his tactical needs in view of Congress, did not hesitate to liquidate the symbolic reform of the Jobs Act of Renziana's season which, on balance, produced a million jobs in more?

“I understand it if I reflect on what happened to the Democratic Party in the past years. Renzi at a certain point he became the enemy to be kicked out. Bonaccini is part of that majority part of the Democratic Party whose problem was: to eliminate Renzi. To get him out of the way, it was also necessary to cancel the key words of Renzism, such as the Jobs Act. Cancel the symbols, to cancel the person”. 

The clear support for Ukraine against the Russian invader and the pro-Atlantic position of the Pd seem to be the only positive legacy of the disappointing Letta secretariat: after the Congress, one can think that the Pd will maintain a foreign policy orientation that does not give in to fakes pacifisms circulating on the right as on the left?

“No, I don't think so: foreign policy will remain unchanged. As things stand, the entire western front is holding. There may be some changes to the course of the war that we cannot predict, but the substance will not change. Of course, if Schlein wins it could be another story. But first let's see how it ends."