It is the first real week of “light” in four years of darkness for the so-called progressive broad field. The victory of the “no” vote in the Referendum gave oxygen to what was once the centre-left, even if with the “centre” now reduced to a minimum. The defense of the Constitution, after the protests of young people outraged by the events in Gaza, has certainly reinvigorated a ruling class that is coming off four years of difficulty, after the overwhelming majority obtained by the centre-right in the 2022 elections. Never before had we seen, from 1994 onwards, an opposition incapable of gaining votes and outlining an alternative. No regional, administrative or European election had managed to bring such a breath of optimism to the parliamentary minorities.

Almost no one has asked for Meloni’s resignation, also because they are not ready

Victory is being celebrated in the centre-left following Giorgia Meloni’s first real defeat. “It is easier to come together for a “no” than for a “yes” for the broad field,” points out Antonio Polito. Igor Taruffi, Elly Schlein’s shadow man, maintains that there is a relative center-left majority, a thesis that Pier Luigi Bersani has been proposing for four years every evening on La7 or wherever he is invited to speak. Francesco Merlo warns the managers: that of 22 and 23 March “was a no to the Meloni Government, but not a yes to the broad field”.

“Meloni has lost his magic touch,” claims Matteo Renzi, but the center-left hasn’t won an election at national level since 2014: the touch in question hasn’t been at home in these parts for a while. Political elections are something else entirely: in this round the many defections from the centre-right and the agglomeration of all the votes of the most extreme left, usually dispersed in many streams, have benefited the cause of the “no”.

The Florentine was the only one to ask for the Prime Minister’s resignation, all the others were careful not to do so: they are not in the least ready for a possible fall of the Government.

Conte’s challenge to Schlein

Giuseppe Conte, one minute after the defeat of the Government in the Referendum, was already projected forward to the centre-left primaries. He is convinced he will bring home the leadership to the gazebos. Conte and Renzi scare everyone in the Democratic Party due to their political unscrupulousness. They are capable of anything. Can you see the former leader of Rignano sull’Arno acting like a wingman, bringing bottles of water to the coalition? You can’t believe it even if you see it with your own eyes. And Conte – who is now announcing a “new season, a political spring” – if he came second in the primaries, would he really be available to be deputy head of the coalition, respecting Schlein’s leadership?

Furthermore, the Dem secretariat, in addition to Conte’s aims, has an internal problem with the reformists. In fact he is showing to the door all those who do not recognize themselves in his doctrine and who are unlikely to find a place in the sun on the PD lists. He could reduce the list of candidates for 2027 starting from the supporters of the “yes” vote in the referendum. Votes that could leave the perimeter of the coalition, which is very unbalanced to the left.

A single program: the real challenge

But the real stumbling block is the coalition’s program, even more so than the primaries. The feeling is that Conte wants to dictate the agenda, with spin doctor Marco Travaglio. At the same time, the national secretary of the CGIL, Maurizio Landini, a great agitator in the streets, would also like to have a say.

Ok, the Constitution, we certainly won’t argue about anti-fascism, we would certainly find a team for the presidency of the Republic (not to be left to the right), but then? In foreign policy – Ukraine-Russia, Israel-Gaza, USA-Iran – the distinctions on each issue are not known in detail even by experts. The economic recipes, for now, do not have economic coverage. Bringing together the Democratic Party, the 5 Star Movement, the Green-Left Alliance and some centrist formations in front of a single electoral program is currently a utopia.

These things cannot be arrived at at the last minute: the opponents have been together since 1994. The center-right is a family capable of carrying on for an entire mandate, despite anger, jealousy and envy. On the left, usually after an argument we think about breakups, separations and splits.

In these parts, obviously, we hope for some other stumbles by the Government, between now and the end of the mandate, and in some other words taken back by Giorgia Meloni in front of her vast electorate. Is that enough? Above all, the prime minister could be included, like all her predecessors, in the new electoral law. Usually it always brings bad luck to the outgoing government that proposes it. The wide field can already be seen at Palazzo Chigi, but in politics two plus two almost never leads to the sum of four.