“Profiting is tackled at its root”. Conte agitates the moral issue to replace the Democratic Party

Ahead in the polls. Fresh from tours around Italy. Giuseppe Conte exploits the card of the moral question and heads to transform the 5 stars into the leading center-left party. Not only in the main opposition force. The Qatar gate, the manoeuvre, the policies in Brussels, the regional ones: all tools to move the current situation. Against the Pd. With the M5s in the privileged position of the observer, the leader of the Movement can discuss corruption and try to dictate his own line. Will we ever get out of this? He is asked in an interview to Republic. And he takes aim at the government: “he shows up in Brussels winking at tax evaders and corrupt people by proposing a ‘free everyone’ on the roof of cash. He doesn’t testify in favor of our reputation”.

Yet the Qatar gate is not the business of the Italian right. Indeed, it involves the exponents of the left closest to the former president: however, according to the leader, everyone must be able to “feed confidence in their representatives”, not just centre-left voters. So while the discussion seems to move to that of a more general political ethics, Conte reiterates that: “I parties involved in this scandal must clarify as soon as possible. It is not enough to hastily suspend a single MEP [Andrea Cozzolino, ndr]. Commercialism must be tackled at its root”. And here the words, more severe, despite Cozzolino not even being investigated, are addressed to the Democratic Party. An “appeal” to all party leaders follows: qIt is better to work together for a law on conflict of interest and to regulate lobbies. Right now that “the Meloni majority is lowering the defenses of our institutions by hitting the Spazzacorrotti law”.

In recent days, however, the debate on the so-called moral question is focusing on Matthew Renzi and Massimo D’Alema. Both have maintained relationships with the emirates and Gulf countries. Both former prime ministers. Conte uses the same words with them as the exponent dem Goffredo Bettini and, marking the difference between the two, quotes the leader of the third pole Carlo Calenda: “‘It is unacceptable that a senator of the Republic, paid by the citizens, goes around the world to act as testimonial of autocratic regimes upon payment of lavish fees”. As for D’Alema, he has long since resigned from public offices”. So did Bettini, who declared yesterday: “D’Alema has resigned from every public office and carries out consultancy roles with regular contracts, Renzi is a party leader and senator”.

So if the opinion on D’Alema is based on Renzi’s conduct – who exonerates one and points the finger at the other – that towards the Democratic Party, and consequently relations with it, is played out on a fine line, full of contradictions. Starting with the alliances for the next regional ones, in Lazio and Lombardy. In fact, in the first Giuseppe Conte chose to break with the dem, while in the second the agreement on Pierfrancesco Majorino appears close.

Faced with an attempt to highlight the ambivalence, however, the leader defends himself by pointing out a choice of sides: in Lazio there was “no way to reason with the Democratic Party”, while “at other latitudes” yes. However, the relaxed tones are interrupted when the interviewer asks his opinion in the match between Schlein and Bonaccini. Conte does not express himself on the merits and states: “I will not do like the current leaders of the Democratic Party who have chosen to nominate those who have tried to destroy the M5s and our line of political action as candidates in the elections“.