Schlein attacks Conte and M5s in the PD direction: 'One is worth one is not worth discussing'

In order not to risk it, he said it himself: "I would like to remove a few pebbles from my shoe". Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein had several. And after having freed herself from them, during the report to the party leadership she hurled them one by one at the allies. The biggest stone fell on the president of the M5s Giuseppe Conte: "The program is written with the entire alliance - warned Schlein - knowing full well that we need to be inclusive, but that one is only worth one in that discussion", because "we are firmly the first opposition party" given that the voters "gave us double the votes of the other forces".

Conte's response was a confident one: let's count each other in the gazebos. To choose the leader of the coalition, he said, "I believe at this point that the path is very clear, there are no alternatives, it will be the path of the primaries". But he guaranteed: "I will face them with a united spirit, I will not allow them to become a rustic duel between leaders".

But it already is a little. Yet, despite showing her muscles with Conte, Schlein was not rewarded by the minority current, which has always been intolerant of her M5s ally. When it came time to express their opinion on the report, the reformists did not participate in the vote. "There are points that we have raised and which still need to be clarified", said the leader of the area, Lorenzo Guerini.

From all the others, however, a unanimous "yes" came. Despite the accumulation of clashes and disputes between the Pd and the M5s (and also the Avs), the news has also had the opportunity to reach the centre. Recording the official entry into the field of former police chief Franco Gabrielli with Ernesto Maria Ruffini's Più Uno party: "I do it without asking for roles or guarantees - Gabrielli explained to Corriere della Sera - the project comes first, then the rest".

It's easy to say project. For the progressive camp, Schlein clearly told the M5s how they feel about the Democratic Party: "Generous yes, naive no". But Conte insists on stopping weapons in Ukraine, alludes to the federation, pushes for the program table and the primaries. Schlein conceded: the Democratic Party, strong "in its role as the main opposition force", wants to go "to meet the others". But "setting some clear boundaries".

For example: "We are ready" at the program table, but the primaries are not essential, because "leading the party that gets one more vote is not hegemony, it's democracy". If then "there are those who do not recognize this democratic principle, we will hold primaries, we will hold them and we will win them". And then, on the sore point of Ukraine. “We will find a high synthesis,” Schlein said, but “we have always supported and will continue to support the Ukrainian people.”

On a day of wall to wall, Conte couldn't let it pass. And then he tried to throw the stone back at Schlein: "For me one is worth one means that the citizens count - said the M5s president - who for the vast majority, 60 and 70%, say enough to these military escalations with the sound of weapons". Not even Avs liked this story of one not being worth one: "In the comparison of ideas there cannot be the strength of numbers - said Angelo Bonelli - it is a reasoning that gives me a deep concern".

In the Democratic Party, among the reformists, the most harsh towards the secretary was the MEP Giorgio Gori: "We had asked more than one candidate from the Democratic Party in the primaries - he recalled - and the answer was: we can't talk about it". Schlein made no attacks on the reformists. The M5s was especially in his sights. "We must refine the common program - said the secretary - so that it is a binding pact with everyone". That is, trusting is good but not trusting is better. And then, given that M5s and Avs don't want Matteo Renzi's Iv. "The program must be refined together with the entire progressive alliance, with all those who want to build the alternative." Conte had the last word: "If he thinks that Renzi is an added value, he will be the direct guarantor of this contribution".