Pd, Nardella launches Bonaccini’s race: “Ready to support his candidacy to have collective and strong leadership”

From 10 December on tour in at least 100 towns in Italy

The Emilian governor then announces his journey along the peninsula. «Saturday 10 December we will leave Bari for a great tour around Italy. We want to touch at least 100 cities, not only the capitals but also medium and small municipalities that risk feeling forgotten and abandoned by politics from the mountains to the seaside resorts that want to be represented”.

The clash of currents in the background of the race

However, the official launch of the Bonaccini-Nardella tandem restores, once again, the deep internal laceration within the party. Who in the search for a new secretary tries, in vain, to put aside the divisions and the multiplication of currents. Lined up against each other alongside candidates, real and presumed. On the one hand, there is the large block in support of the Emilian governor’s candidacy, which relies on the former Renzians of the reformist base headed by the former defense minister, Lorenzo Guerini, and which can count on other prominent figures in the area Dem, starting with Graziano Delrio.

The network of mayors in support of Bonaccini

Behind Bonaccini, however, the representatives of the territories also queued up. Those of the South will join the Emilian governor thanks to the tandem with Nardella. Who has long been cultivating excellent relations with colleagues in the South, from the mayor of Naples Manfredi to that of Lecce Salvemini. New supporters, therefore, who will join their colleague from Tuscany, Eugenio Giani and the number one of the Anci and mayor of Bari, Antonio Decaro. Bonaccini also enjoys the consent of the mayor of Bergamo, Giorgio Gori. Who in recent days has even gone as far as threatening to leave the Democratic Party if Elly Schlein ultimately wins the race for the secretariat.

The big names of the party in support of Schlein

Bonaccini’s number two will release the reserve tomorrow, Sunday 4 December. And in these hours the only words spoken by the parliamentarian were dictated by the shock of the attack on her sister Susanna, first councilor of the Italian embassy in Athens. «My sister and I spoke, it was she who gave me the strength to come tonight – he said yesterday as a guest of Lilli Gruber on “Otto e mezzo” on La7 -. She told me “we mustn’t be afraid” ». And Schlein is now expected from the last mile: the formalization of a candidacy that can count on the support of many big names in the party, from former minister Dario Franceschini to Nicola Zingaretti, all ready to support the young representative of the left of the “movements ” and without the Pd card in his pocket. Which you promised to take at the end of the constituent phase.

The risk of the final showdown

The long lead times, however, risk weakening even more a party that Secretary Letta is trying, with extreme difficulty, to keep united. Officially, the former Prime Minister has not taken a position, but the proximity to Schlein is known to most. And the candidacy of the Emilian vice president – who tomorrow, Sunday 4 December, called her colleagues to the Monk in Rome – could make the internal divisions even more evident. Not surprisingly, many believe that the succession to Letta will turn into a definitive showdown for the Democratic Party. And whoever loses the congress will say goodbye to find a home elsewhere. Perhaps dusting off the alliance with the M5S which causes more than a few nostalgia. Or looking, alternatively, for a bank in the Calenda-Renzi axis where attention to the events of the Democratic Party remains very high.