The new DC born from the funeral of Forlani-Corriere.it

(This text was published in Diario Politico, the Corriere’s political newsletter: to receive it, just sign up here
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During the religious function celebrated by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, who listened the entire time while remaining standing and holding an old flag with the Crusader shield and the inscription Libertas in his hands, the elderly militant was the most observed man. Among the illustrious presences at the state funeral of Arnaldo Forlani, which was also attended the other day by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, someone claimed to have seen him before and also to remember him, that man who occupied a place in the aisle side of the Basilica of St. Peter and Paul holding up the banner of Christian Democracy on the day of the last farewell to the last secretary, at the moment of farewell to the last letter from the Caf, the Craxi-Andreotti-Forlani era that marked the rhythm of the last dance of the First Republic. The unknown militant, in the end, remained so.

The name of the next creature that could arise from the ashes of the Christian Democracy myth, however, would already be there: Popular Base. The project, which will be baptized as early as next week as a cultural association, was discussed in various small groups that formed before and after Forlani’s funeral. But also twenty days ago in the Chamber of Deputies, during the commemoration of Ciriaco De Mita one year after his death. In the sign of the myth of the DC, on the wave of emotion that accompanied the farewells to De Mita and Forlani, someone sets off on the path that many have trodden, amid disappointments (many) and nostalgia (many). Yeah, but who? Certainly Joseph DeMita, former regional councilor in Campania and nephew of the former Prime Minister; certainly another Christian Democrat with a very long career, Angelo Sanza, undersecretary at Palazzo Chigi at the time of the De Mita government and undersecretary of the Interior at the time of the Forlani government. With them too Gaetano Quagliarielloformer Minister of Reforms, who has never been a Christian Democrat but for years has been one of the thoroughbreds that move around the enclosure of that moderate center looking for a home. The timer, if operated by old foxes of politics, is never a random tool. The Europeans are one step away. And the work in progress in that area in which Renzi and Calenda move – now separated – could reveal many surprises. The unknown militant who was seen the other day at Forlani’s funeral is waiting to wave that old flag. Once again.

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