Cottarelli’s exit and the alarm bell for Schlein: the risk of a Pd with a “minority vocation”
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Carlo Cottarelli’s farewell to his seat as senator elected with the Democratic Party, anticipated on the evening of Sunday 7 May by Sole24ore.com, was in the air. But it is still a big blow for the party and for the new secretary Elly Schlein: director of the Fiscal Affairs department of the International Monetary Fund from 2008 to 2013, then extraordinary commissioner of the government (Enrico Letta sat in Palazzo Chigi) for the review of public spending, he was chosen by the president of the Republic as prime minister in charge of a possible technical government after the 2018 elections, in the days when Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio could not agree on the birth of the yellow-green government finally chaired by Giuseppe Conte .
Cottarelli’s exit with style: I go to schools to explain politics and the economy
There is no doubt that the civil servant of the state – strongly desired by the former secretary of the Democratic Party Letta in the electoral lists to rebalance the electoral offer to the “right” after the decision to nominate the Bersanian leaders of Article 1 – comes out with great style : he leaves Parliament – he explained – because he was elected in the proportional quota and therefore not chosen directly by the voters in a constituency and does not join other parliamentary groups. He simply goes off to do something else: «I’m going to direct, free of charge, a new program for education in political and social sciences aimed at high school students offered by the Catholic University of Milan. The objective is to carry out 150 visits a year, perhaps more », writes the interested party in a letter to Repubblica in which he explains the reasons for his decision.
The j’accuse against Schlein: now Pd further away from liberal democratic ideas
But it is clear that the concomitance of the pro bono commitment is only an excuse, a way out. It is Cottarelli himself who lists the political reasons that see him distant from Schlein and from the left turn imprinted on the Democratic Party (it is no coincidence that Cottarelli had supported Stefano Bonaccini in the congressional campaign): «It is undeniable, just look at the composition of the new secretariat, which Schlein’s election has moved the Democratic Party further away from the free democratic ideas that I believe in… a key issue is the role that “mertio” should play in society. The principle of merit was very present in the 2008 pd values document, the last one available when I decided to run. however, it is missing in the one approved in January 2023 and in the Schlein motion for primaries ». Not only merit: there is no sharing on the criticisms of Renziano’s Jobs act, on the positions of the secretary regarding waste-to-energy plants, wombs for rent, nuclear power…
Fioroni, Chinnici, Marcucci, Borghi: is it really an escape?
The first to leave the Democratic Party was one of the founders, the Catholic Giuseppe Fioroni. Then it was the turn of MEP Caterina Chinnici, daughter of the magistrate killed by the Mafia, who moved to Forza Italia. Followed by the former group leader in the Senate Andrea Marcucci, approaching Matteo Renzi’s Italia Viva in view of the 2024 European elections. Finally, after various warnings that he said went unheeded, Senator Enrico Borghi came out, who also switched to Italia Viva . Obviously Renzi is rejoicing (“Elly Schlein’s Democratic Party is losing pieces. After Marcucci, Fioroni, Chinnici, Borghi, today it is Cottarelli’s turn. I say that it is only the beginning. Let’s give time to time and the political framework of this country will change profoundly»), but even if an independent like the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala warns that Cottarelli’s departure «is not a good sign» («he feels he belongs to a liberal and progressive line which evidently he does not see represented») the alarm bell in Largo del Nazareno should ring loud and clear.
The alarm bell for Schlein and the risk of a “minority vocation”
Is there still room for reformists and Catholics in the Democratic Party founded by Walter Veltroni 15 years ago precisely on the premise of the meeting of different cultures? Or has the secretary already made her definitive choice alongside Maurizio Landini’s CGIL and Giuseppe Conte’s M5s on labor issues, and more? It is clear that Schlein’s Pd has set itself the goal for now of recovering ground on the left, even to the detriment of the M5s, but behind the unease of reformists and fleeing Catholics there could also be the unease of a part of the traditional voters of the Pd . For this reason, beyond the choices of individual personalities, the signals in this direction should not be underestimated in Largo del Nazareno: the risk is that of condemning the Democratic Party to a “minority vocation” and thus losing sight of the construction of the alternative for return to government.
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