from 3.5 million for Veltroni now fears fall to 800,000 voters – Corriere.it

After an exhausting tug of war on rules and dates, the Democratic Party has launched the postponement of the primaries to elect the new secretary: we will vote on February 26 from 8 to 20. In the gazebos there will be a head-to-head between the first two candidates who will pass the congressional phase within party circles. On the field there are four aspiring leaders for the after Letta: Stefano Bonaccini, Elly Schlein and Gianni Cuperlo and the former minister Paola De Micheli.

The Democratic Party, as confirmed by all the polls, is going through a moment of sharp decline in popularity,
surpassed in voting intentions even by the Five Star Movement.
And this situation of malaise risks having serious repercussions on participation in the gazebos.

The bar is set between 800,000 and one million participants in the gazebos. Or rather, this is the expectation of the two main competitors: Bonaccini and Schlein, who are calibrating their respective campaigns on these numbers. From the Nazarene, where the outgoing general staff still sits, mouths are sealed: “This is not the time to talk about numbers.” But, always with closed notebooks, the million threshold is considered rather optimistic.

After all, the glories of the past are a mirage today. In the (coalition) primaries to choose the premier candidate in 2005, 4.3 million people voted. And high was the turnout for the first, real, primaries to elect the leader in 2007, for the foundation of the Democratic Party: 3.5 million for Walter Veltroni secretary. From then on, the collapse was inexorable: 3.1 million for the election of Pier Luigi Bersani in 2009; 2.8 and 1.8 million for that of Matthew Renzirespectively in 2013 and 2017. To then land at a million and a half for the choice on Nicola Zingaretti. Enrico Letta, outgoing leader, was
elected by acclamation of the national assembly (and without a primary) after the surprise farewell of his predecessor.

And now? The concrete fear is of a further stumbling block. Debora Serracchiani, group leader in the Chamber, does not mince words: «The tribulation that the Pd is going through is undeniable, which, in any case, finds in the congressional path an opportunity for discussion, we hope for openness, for mobilisation. In this sense, the primaries will be the thermometer of our ability to involve people, to encourage broad participation». Again for Serracchiani, which has not yet taken sides given its role of guarantee «it is not a question of a bar: but of the quality of a shared project that aims, in perspective, to lead the country, going through a season of firm, intelligent, useful opposition for the citizens».

On facing Schlein speaks Marco Furfaro, spokesman for one of the two motions of the dem left: “We want to reactivate hope in politics, because it is what leads to participation again – explains Furfaro -. There is a great deal of disaffection, but there is also a great desire to participate that cannot find adequate tools. This is why it is good to have added online voting to gazebos. We want the primaries to be a huge crowd, so well attended as to exceed one million people».

And an increase, albeit slight,
of participation could precisely come thanks to online voting, on which Schlein has obtained a partial opening,
despite opposition from opponents. Only those who, by 12 February, register on a digital platform (not yet chosen) as a participant in the primaries will be able to vote online. And those who live abroad will always be able to vote online, again after registering. For non-resident students, the case of Bologna is emblematic, which has 40,000, special gazebos will instead be set up.