What the broadsides between Letta and Salvini conceal
Moves and words of Enrico Letta, secretary of the Democratic Party, analyzed by Gianfranco Polillo
Let's take Paolo Mieli's idea for good, from the pages of Il Corriere della sera . Enrico Letta's effort would be twofold: to give an identity to the Democratic Party and, at the same time, to prepare the ground for reaching a bipolar electoral system, which favors the alliance with the 5 stars. Thus correcting the great confusion that was, above all, the daughter of Nicola Zingaretti's management. Whose ancillary relationship, towards Giuseppe Conte, had prevented the Party from developing its own vision. In truth, Mieli does not analyze this second aspect with the necessary clarity. But the judgment, however, can be glimpsed in the described and desired scheme. The clash between Letta and Salvini as the premise of a basically bipolar electoral system.
Ugo Magri, from the columns of the Huffington Post , increases the dose. Letta and Salvini are like the thieves of Pisa. “One acts as a guarantor against skidding to the right, the other against skidding to the left. By arguing with each other, they both derive an advantage which, if it did not sound highly disrespectful, would remind Letta of the famous thieves of Pisa, her city. Who during the day pretended to quarrel and at night they plundered together. Of struggle and government, to put it today in political terms ”. Both would therefore have their own advantage. The first, Letta, to remove the anti-Salvini flag from Giuseppe Conte. The second to contain the resistible advance of Giorgia Meloni.
So far the rigor of detachment. But just go into the inside pages of the newspapers that the profile changes. Also in the Corriere della Sera , Alessandro Trocino reveals the hidden thoughts of Enrico Letta, reporting an interview with him in Il Tirreno : “It is the League that must explain its support for Draghi. He changed his position on Europe, with a meeting between Salvini and Giorgetti in a bar, in front of a cup of coffee. The League today is a caricature of politics. In another bar, in front of a coffee, in a few months the old Salvini could be back ”. Power of that ancient hatred against the enemy, which, as such, is destined to manifest itself again.
It is difficult to say whether such an analysis is more superficial or more propaganda. It is certainly misleading. That the Lega, in the past, did not share the enthusiasm of the pro-Europeans is a clear story. But what was on the other side of the front? An uncritical adhesion, due to the modesty of the Italian interlocutors and the consequent sacrifice of every crumb of national dignity. A rhetoric, often embarrassing, peppered with slogans (homework), which a growing mass of voters found more and more unbearable. The League has done nothing but intercept this sentiment and go from that small initial consensus to being the first Italian political party.
Fortunately, the Europe of today is no longer that of the past months. Just think of the Next generation Eu . And Mario Draghi is not Giuseppe Conte. That change of tenant, at Palazzo Chigi, made the difference. And pushed the League, which had first proposed that solution, to cross the Rubicon. But may the north, which is reflected more intensely in the positions of that party, be pervaded by an anti-European or anti-Atlantic spirit; when its wealth is largely due to its ability to export and compete in the great international arena? It should not be forgotten that about 80 per cent of Italian exports go to Europe and the United States. Obviously only rhetorical question.
But since we are on the subject, it is time to update our analyzes on the Bel Paese, continually portrayed as refractory to any growth in productivity. But if that were the case, then how to explain that strong trade balance surplus? Isn't it the consequence of a great ability to innovate in production processes, to combine high quality performance and cost containment? Unfortunately, this core of excellence is circumscribed in a triangle of a few tens of square kilometers, between Milan, Treviso and Bologna. While for the rest of the national territory that ballast prevails, which transforms the national statistics into the Trilussa average. Unable to grasp the essence of the phenomenon that one would like to analyze.
Beyond the talk of political politics, this, therefore, is the real guarantee of the pro-European turn of the League. Which will remain so at least as long as the Italian ruling classes do nothing but behave like the German or French ones. The spirit of Mario Draghi, in fact. Other than sudden conversions in front of a coffee cup. And then that symmetry, between the Democratic Party on the one hand and the League on the other, which the Italian press talks about, must necessarily be further analyzed and qualified. Because a difference of substance exists: while Enrico Letta tends to polarize towards the extreme, in search of a lost identity, Salvini turns towards the center, even without giving his side to Giorgia Meloni's competition.
What will be the most guessed strategy will be seen. But if we were in Enrico Letta, we would not be so “serene”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/letta-salvini/ on Tue, 23 Mar 2021 06:15:55 +0000.