Pd or Padel? The new catchphrase is on the (possible) change of name – Corriere.it

the new catchphrase of the Pd. Having closed one diatribe (on the manifesto of values), the dem have already opened another: that of changing the name. The first to put forward this proposal was some time ago the mayor of Bologna Matteo Lepore, who proposed to rename the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Labour. That is Padel. An acronym that has unleashed the irony of social media. Elly Schlein didn’t mind the idea. Then, two days ago Peppe Provenzano, outgoing deputy secretary of the party, relaunched it, proposing a referendum among the members. Yesterday, in the Assembly of the Democratic Party, he returned to talk about it. Andrea Orlando favorable. Stefano Bonaccini skeptical: “I have no tab but let’s not get lost in surreal discussions”. Paola De Micheli more than against: “We don’t talk about it”.

But how would Provenzano and Schlein think of being able to change the name of the Democratic Party? “You can submit it to the members,” they both say. That is, by resorting to the referendum foreseen by the Statute. Too bad, however, that there are two obstacles. The first is that that referendum should be called by the new secretary and in the event Bonaccini wins the primaries it would be very unlikely that he will follow up on this idea. The second is that the articles of the Statute cannot be submitted to a referendum. And, coincidentally, the first article of that regulation describes what the name and symbol of the Democratic Party should be. To support the intentions of Lepore, Provenzano, Schlein and Orlando it would therefore be necessary to take another path. And, above all, to have an internal majority large enough to decide on this “refoundation”. For the moment, however, the Democratic Party seems to have taken the usual path: the one that leads it to divide.