However the affair of the alliances ends, the outcome for the centre-left will in any case be negative. For two simple reasons. The first is that the centre-left without i 5 Stars it does not seem able, according to the polls, to oppose the advance of the centre-right. The second, more substantive, is that thePd alliance with Action e + Europe, moreover contradicted by the one between the Democratic Party and Bonelli and Fratoianni, does not seem to have been conceived as a first step towards the creation of a new and more credible center-left government fully emancipated from populism but, rather, as an expedient for not losing too many seats single-member. Nothing wrong, of course. Only that there is no guarantee that in the aftermath of the elections and in the absence of an internal political clarification, the reformism of the Democratic Party will not evaporate like snow in the sun.
Letta, Calenda and Bonino: a lame alliance around the Democratic Party
The main responsibility for this unsatisfactory outcome lies with Letta and her unresolved ambiguities, but Emma Bonino also made a contribution with her resentful veto to Renzi and Calenda himself for his reluctance to fulfill the role of federator of the reformist liberal democratic and liberal socialist area to which he also aspires. Letta should have been categorical from the outset at least on one issue that is truly decisive and that is the fact that the centre-left alliance is not and cannot be an alliance "against" anyone (Meloni, the fascist threat, the Constitution in danger , and so on) but it must be an alliance "for something" (the Draghi agenda, the reforms...).
All against Meloni and Salvini but for a defensive alliance only
If, indeed, one is convinced, as he wrote Paolo Flores D'Arcais, that the eventual victory of the centre-right heralds the birth of a "neo-pro-post and para-fascist" government, then there is little to discuss. The only choice (as Fratoianni and Bersani say) is to call everyone to arms and create a broad anti-fascist front, ranging from 5 stars to Forza Italia by recruiting all those who hate Meloni and Salvini on the street. Other than Agenda Draghi, the one that needs to be challenged is the Constitution (Zagrebelsky dixit).
The lost opportunity for a true alliance for reforms in the name of Draghi
If, on the other hand, you are convinced that the problem is to give practice implementation of the PNRR and to complete the reforms necessary for its realization, then the question that arises is that of an alliance "to do something" and this alliance to last over time, even after the elections, presupposes that the allies share those choices and are determined to pursue them both by the government and, if the voters call them to this role, by the opposition. And this is the only ground on which one can be built political alliance if you want to rule a country.
Why wasn't it done? Perhaps due to lack of time but perhaps also because on many issues there are very different and difficult to reconcile positions in the Democratic Party.
On so many crucial issues too many delays and reticence
About energy and in particular on the exploitation of national reserves of gas and on the use of nuclear new generation, the Pd in Europe voted against the resolution of the Commission. The ban on the cultivation of GMOs remains, as does widespread hostility towards large infrastructures. Also on the issues of the world of work, from the reform of the basic income to the strengthening of employment agencies (not employment offices), from the increase in wages linked to the increase in productivity and not only to the cut in the tax wedge until the experimentation of new industrial relations, a regression with respect to the past was recorded in the union and in the left itself. On these and on many other themes both of character social economy is institutional there are delays and reticence.
Because the Democratic Party fails to be reformist to the end
It is evident that Letta could not clarify all these things because only a real congress – if they ever will! – could do it. But it is precisely this difficulty of the Democratic Party in fully embracing the reformist method in addition to the Draghi agenda that should push the reformists who are in the Democratic Party and those who militate in other formations to commit themselves to obtaining ever greater clarity. It is for this reason that the centre-left cannot rely solely on the dem. The Democratic Party is the largest party in the centre-left coalition and can and must operate for what it is or claims to be: a true social democratic party, with no ifs, ands or buts, as Sergio Cofferati would say if he were one.
The importance that the legacy of the Draghi government should not be lost
But, alongside the Democratic Party, it is good that a formation of liberal democratic, liberal socialist and reformist inspiration also arise that represents those sectors of culture and society that are inspired by those values. Action e Italy Viva they are already an expression of this area today and for this reason it is essential that these two formations are successful in the next elections. Perhaps this will not be enough for the victory of the centre-left but it will certainly be enough to counter any reactionary drift and to ensure that the legacy of the Draghi government not go completely lost.
