«A mandate to really change»- Corriere.it

«Dear all and dear all, we did it. I am immensely grateful because together we have made a great revolution. They didn’t see us coming this time either.” There are a few minutes to midnight when Elly Schlein makes her first public speech as secretary of the Democratic Party. «The democratic people are alive and have a clear line. You ask us to really change ». And then her warning: “We will be a big problem for the Meloni government, we will organize a real opposition”.

Primary results

The emotion is there, the satisfaction even more. Maybe even a little surprise. But the first signs of victory had already arrived a couple of hours earlier. «But then he really won?» Says a boy from the staff, dressed in black, opening the door of the meeting room, with an incredulous look. Behind the door is Elly Schlein, with all of his staff. It’s almost half past nine in the evening, applause, a few cheers. Schlein just materialized at the committee Nicola Zingaretti, former secretary of the Democratic Party. Many interpret this arrival, given its proverbial prudence, as the signal that victory is a reality. Like hugs that Nico Stumpo he concedes to friends and collaborators, «we also won at Tor Bella Monaca!».

Spazio Diamante, theater between Pigneto and Tor Pignattara, trendy area that is not the center but neither is it the periphery. And in any case it is very “ecological and feminist left”, as per the slogan repeated several times in this electoral campaign. Purple background, white shirt, hands on hips, inevitable smile. “Start with us!” says Schlein’s image on the committee’s posters and screens. Until late in the evening you have to be content with this. You wait before making official statements. You don’t want to go too far even when from her staff it filters that, in addition to Tor Bella Monaca, «Elly is ahead in 14 Regions», «which has also won in Naples, Bologna, Palermo and Florence». As if she didn’t really believe it.

The photo portrait of Elly Schlein, the first female secretary of the Democratic Party

The results come later than expected. Schlein, on the other hand, arrives at the office when it is now ten minutes to nine in the evening, a good hour after the initial schedule. A sign that he wanted to wait for the first positive signs to at least turn into a trend. And already at that moment the trend seems more than positive. He goes into the press room but it’s just to say hello, no questions. Her red and black checkered shirt, blue jacket, sneakers, her staff welcome her with a full round of applause, because now they really believe in it here not just out of professional duty. «Good job everyone», she continues, and then locks herself in the room above to update the point of the situation. The first data is arriving from the cities, which gives it the advantage. Yet until a few minutes before her, her staff kept triumphalisms at bay, saying that in any case «Elly» won because she moved the debate to the left in the Democratic Party. True, but it looked a lot like the harbinger of defeat. A surprise for them too?

With the ballot in progress, Schlein confined himself to a declaration through agencies: “Since this morning there has been a queue at the gazebos, even where it was raining”. Ecumenical line on large popular participation. But that’s not all, because the high turnout concentrated in the big cities was perhaps the key to this game. “If we are ahead in the big cities, the game is open”, commented the staff in the hours in which they were still putting their hands on, grumbling against the “caciques and club bosses”. A moment in which the goal seemed to be the “big draw”. Explaining that this is an election similar to that for the president of the United States, where not only the votes for the front runner count but also the preferences for the delegates. But now the strategy of the big draw is outdated. The surprise victory remains. And a night to celebrate.