What is this “Republican Front” – Post on

The election poster was presented at the headquarters of the Foreign Press Association on Monday morning (pdf) action and +Europe, a concept that has re-emerged cyclically in centrist party circles in recent years, the “deal”, commonly referred to as the “republican front”. The event was attended by Carlo Calenda and Matteo Ricchetti from Action and Emma Bonino, Riccardo Maggi and Benedetto della Vedova from +Europa. , perhaps, the Democratic Party.

Other centrist leaders also spoke out in front of the Republican Party, including Matteo Renzi, head of Italia Viva, and Renato Brunetta, who left Borsa Italia after a lack of support from his ruling Draghi party. talking with sheet Monday, Renzi Favorable said “Put together a single list of this front to form a republican front. If the PD doesn’t make a list, we Calenda » Brunetta, Roy 3 during the broadcast. Half an hour moreInstead of talking about a “list, a board, which has a general plan,” he said, “We need a plan.” addition To save the country, the Republican Party based on the Draghi agenda ».

The expression “Republican Front” was borrowed from French politics and has been used ever since Since the 1950s Referring to alliances between different political forces to defend the republic and embed the far-right, from this point of view politically it goes beyond the range of parties that accept and represent the democratic principles on which the republic was founded. In particular, in the past decades and until now, by the “Republican Front”, we refer to appeals to cross-strait political forces whose primary objective is to defeat the Front National, Marine Le Pen’s party, the Rallye Nationale, in 2018.

Even the last one Presidential election And For the latest legislation President Emmanuel Macron called for a Republican front to prevent Le Pen from winning, winning despite collapsing consensus: between the 2017 and 2022 elections, Macron lost 2 million votes and Le Pen gained 2.6 million, which was not enough to avoid it anyway. failure

Returning to the Italian context, the republican front that we speak of these days was inspired by the French one with the aim of curbing the more extremist and anti-European political forces. During Monday’s press conference, Bonino and Galenda appealed to other parties, but the populists and all political forces drew a dividing line that clearly did not line up in favor of sending weapons to Ukraine and against Russian aggression. Center-right and 5 Star Movement, mainly.

Bonino explained that creating a confederation was “not a prison or even a church,” meaning the confederation would be independent and each political force would maintain its own identity. Basic principles of the agreement: Italy’s international position inextricably linked to the European Union and NATO; Budget austerity and the limitation of deficit spending, above all in investments in education and health and not in tax cuts and increases in pension spending; The need to build recyclers and waste-to-energy plants (a very divisive and very current topic in the debate during the government crisis).

And, Calenda added, “We know we have to intervene in working poverty, so we’re supportive Minimum salary“.

The Action e + Europa initiative appears to be an attempt to consolidate and circulate the idea of ​​the Republican Front that appeared last weekend. The proposal has already been submitted Mariastella gelmini, like Brunetta left Forza Italia, while Renzi maintained an intermediate position, sending signals of interest but not full support. In short, the situation is still evolving and negotiations between the parties have begun, so it is not yet clear who actually wants to participate.

Matteo Renzi in the Senate (ANSA / FABIO CIMAGLIA)

However, there are two big unknowns about the future of the project: The first is that the Center has now become a political constituency Not just congestion, but fragmentation, and there are nuances and different political interests among the various parties, which are not obvious to unite. Some parties prefer to present themselves in elections, others to the left and others to the right, and some parties prefer not to participate in coalitions that include some. The second unknown is the Democratic Party. On the one hand, after the government crisis, Secretary Enrico Letta broke the alliance With the M5S, Letta could be brought closer to centrist parties that support the so-called “Tragi agenda,” an unspecified plan inspired by the previous government’s move.

– read more: The center has become a very busy place

On the other hand, however, these days the PD will try to form an electoral committee, writes On Francesco Verderami Corrier della Sera, which includes parties to the left of the PD, the Greens, exiles from the M5S, and Section 1, the party of Health Minister Roberto Speranza. The PD seems to want to group these political forces under the code of “democrats and progressives”, but some of them are not really compatible with the republican front, at least in the way that Action and + Europe understand it: the Greens, for example, cannot unconditionally accept the part of the manifesto regarding regenerators and waste-to-energy plants. .

During the meeting on Monday morning, Bonino said, “The first dialogue with the PD has started for 24 hours, which like other interlocutors in these years, up to 5 stars are unreliable and extreme left” . According to Bonino, who made it clear that he was in charge of conducting this conversation, “if he wants an interview with us, it’s up to the PD to open it, we’re sure, but I can’t. I present myself with a bazooka in my hand”.

Calenda also introduced herself to the PD, saying, “We love Leta, she’s a serious person” and “we’re open to discussing things with everyone.” Asked by a journalist about Letta’s possible leadership of the entire coalition, Calenda said: “Forcing on this issue risks closing the debate. There is only one person as prime minister, Mario Draghi. But it is not known whether Draghi actually wants to consider this offer, in fact it is not possible at the moment. It seems.