«The moderates must recover votes. Renzi? If you want, join us»- Corriere.it

Maurizio Lupi, tomorrow the congress of Noi con l’Italia-Noi moderates is held, but what is the space in the center in a line-up in which the Brothers of Italy clearly predominate?

I believe that the dialogue between the cultural and political forces that refer to the popular tradition and the Brothers of Italy, that a great conservative political proposal, is fundamental. The alliance between conservatives and popular parties represents an interesting challenge both for Italy and for Europe. On one condition, however: the centrist forces must not chase after the conservatives but must go back to thinking about their tradition, projecting it towards the future. The stabilization of a centre-right government proposal, not in the short term, but in the medium and long term, given only by a strong moderate connotation. If it disappears, there is the risk of having an unfinished government proposal for the country. The political task we give ourselves is to restore strength to that proposal.
As? Perhaps by aggregating other political forces also in view of the 2024 European elections, perhaps in a single list?

In all these years we have been discussing the political space of the center waiting for Godot, now is the time to roll up our sleeves and piece together many fragments, many small and big stories and the European elections can represent an opportunity to put the popular political proposal back together, one condition: that it is not a summation of acronyms, because we have already seen that that model does not work.
At the center for the truth there is also the leader of Italia viva Matteo Renzi …

Many have thought, after years of non-political governments, that the bipolarity was overcome, but it is not like that. The Italians have chosen the centre-right and the centre-left which has gone into opposition. Apart from these two political proposals which by now characterize modern democracies, the centre, no longer has a space. It becomes an abstract political operation, so much so that Calenda and Renzi imploded after the elections. So they will have to choose whether to stay with the Democratic Party or with the center-right. If Renzi opts for this second solution, there is already a space for him to join, which is ours.
So Are We Moderates open to dialogue with Matteo Renzi and Italy alive in the near future?

Our first job is to strengthen the political proposal of the centre-right, in which we have been for thirty years. Then dialogue with all those who want to strengthen the moderate proposal in the centre-right. We must give strength to our identity with our proposals, because the challenge is that of the government. We have to demonstrate that we know how to change Italy starting today. And the title of our congress: The future now.
Lupi, tell the truth, are you moving right now also in anticipation of a further decline of Forza Italia?

I must say that in the meantime I am pleased that on the eve of our congress Berlusconi is finally returning home, continuing to make his fundamental contribution to the country’s political life, but the problem is that in all these years the central political proposal, that of Forza Italia , of the PDL, to be clear, has become fragmented and weakened: we have lost millions of votes. In 2008, the Popolo della Liberta took 39.8 percent of the votes, today the polls show Us Moderates at 1.5 and Forza Italia at 7. It is clear that we have lost many voters, who have taken refuge in abstentionism or have gone in the other parties.
And so what?

A real reflection of how to recover this consensus and how to give it strength is now an objective necessity that involves Berlusconi and all of us. Never like today would there be a need for a PDL 4.0. And the alliance between the People’s Party and the Conservatives could become a model for Europe as well. So much so that the signs of nervousness towards Italy come from those who oppose this alliance between the EPP, which remains the fundamental pillar of European politics, and the Conservatives who could have electoral success in 2024. But the Europeans will be also important for Meloni and all of us: they will represent our first political test after almost twenty months of government.

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