Renzi says yes to the single party with Calenda within the European elections

“Calenda has proposed a bottom-up process that ends in the fall. I’m happy with it”. Matthew Renzicurrently leader of Italia viva, is ready to merge into a single party with Action, giving a new, more concrete form to the Third Pole. In the interview with Press, Renzi only mentions the journey that will lead to the creation of the new political reality. But the horizon of the challenge is the European elections of 2024. There “the former voters of the Democratic Party and the former voters of Forza Italia will have to choose”. Deciding therefore whether to stay in their parties of origin and marry the line of two female leaders, Elly Schleinnew dem secretary, e Giorgia Meloni, which, according to Renzi “risk of taking the comparison to extremes”. Or instead approach the centrist perspective which sees the interest of Italians as “to pacify, smooth out, dialogue”.

The “breadcrumbs” that will lead to the new “exciting season” – this is how the leader of IV describes it on the Messenger – consist of a few stages. Carlo Calenda delivered a document to the Third Pole political committee yesterday evening setting out intentions and roadmap and which will be evaluated within a week. According to the reconstruction of Republic, in March there will be the manifesto of values ​​and the decision on the name of the party. In April, the manifesto will be presented to the public and the membership campaign will begin. In the autumn, between September and October, the constituent will already have to be ready in order to register the new reality in the party register (and also be admitted to the 2 per thousand).

Renzi does not attend the meeting, but alongside Calenda – in addition to Vice Renziana, Elena Bonetti, and the five faces of Action (Carfagna, Gelmini, Raffaelli, Costa and Mazziotti) – five prominent figures of Iv participate. They are Teresa Bellanova, Ettore Rosato, Maria Elena Boschi, Davide Faraone and Luigi Marattin.

The goal is to arrive at the Europeans with a well-defined and well-formed subject, perhaps even expanding to +Europe, if the new leadership of Riccardo Magi wants. But what is certain is that Renzi already claims that he does not want to be the leader of this new party. “I will not be the leader” declares to the Messenger “I’ve carved out a role for myself as a noble father. And I’m fine with it. If someone wants to run as a candidate, it is right that they feel free to do so, even if Calenda is working well for me”, he concludes. However, the closest goals could consist in bringing some names into the new party, perhaps names from the more reformist area of ​​the Democratic Party, who no longer feel popular among the dem. The leader of IV does not hide that the figures he has in mind are many “But they are not famous names. I met them in circles and since Sunday evening they have been writing to me that they cannot stay in this Pd. They are people who will leave the Democratic Party slowly, once it becomes clear where the Schlein secretariat is going. But we are not preparing for the shopping campaign: we are preparing for the electoral campaign. We will make a difference in the European Championships.”

Indeed, Renzi and Calenda cannot fail to see an opportunity in the election of Elly Schlein, which according to the IV leader is the “worst news for Conte”. From the centrist perspective, the door to a new antagonism is opening, between the dem and the M5s, which leaves a more moderate part of the electorate open to intercept. “Today the reformist Democratic Party no longer exists. There is a left-wing party that deserves respect and that will become a direct competitor of the 5-star movement”. This is Matteo Renzi’s sentence, which hides the glimmer of an opportunity not to be missed.