“Scegli” – Make up your mind. With this motto, the left-wing Partito Democratico, or PD for short, went into the election campaign for the Italian parliament. Also on this Tuesday evening “Scegli” shines in white letters on the screen of a stage in the center of Rome. Enrico Letta, ex-prime minister and chairman of the PD, will be speaking to his supporters in a moment. It is the beginning of his election campaign in Rome. On September 25 – in a little over two weeks – the election will already take place.
But there is no trace of campaign fever here. The plaza is small. Even with two to three thousand spectators, it should have the full effect, as newspapers write. But the PD set up the stage in the middle and thus halved the space. So the organizers don’t expect a large crowd – and apparently don’t want it either, because the event wasn’t advertised anywhere. Flyers and posters? none.
Accordingly, the audience consists primarily of party members and journalists. This cautious strategy comes as a surprise when you look at the polls: the PD is currently in second place and has recently lost a little support. The right-wing nationalist party Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) with top candidate Giorgia Meloni leads with 25.8 percent.
But anyone expecting a counter-offensive will be disappointed. The PD does not focus on classic left-wing issues such as workers’ rights, minimum wages or redistribution. These could mobilize many voters in Italy, which is shaken by a permanent crisis.
Instead, she’s waging a us-against-them election campaign. At its core: identity politics, through which the PD wants to differentiate itself from the right. The message is clear: we are the good guys, they are the bad guys. Give us your vote.
But this strategy has a problem, because it leaves the right to dominate the election campaign with its issues – tax cuts, support for families, migration. There are so many voters that the PD could still win over with arguments: 42 percent of those entitled to vote still don’t know where they will put their cross.
Pasquale Russo, 65, an IT entrepreneur and longtime supporter of the PD, came to see the PD’s election campaign kick off. He criticizes the strategy of the PD: “This polarization is not good for the campaign because it excludes people instead of convincing them.” Italy is a fragmented country these days: Anyone who stands between the left and the right does not know where to go.
Russo is bothered by the focus on identity politics: “The PD only focuses on equality. This is of course an important issue. But that’s how they seem almost radical.” In fact, the PD only appeared as a party in the end when it came to identity politics.
The topics in Italy are called ZTL topics, after the abbreviation for “Zona traffico limitato” – traffic-calmed zones. In other words, topics with which you can win over young, urban voters in the traffic-calmed zones of the inner cities.
For example, she continued to promote the Legge Zan, a law against homo-transphobia, even though it had already failed in parliament and would not get a second chance in this legislature. There was support, for example, from the world-famous Italian influencer Chiara Ferragni, who used her platforms to promote the cause of the PD.
Another example is the Ius Scholae, a reform of the naturalization law designed to give foreign children attending school in Italy faster access to citizenship. The PD brought this proposal to parliament at a moment when it was clear that it had no chance.
But the PD was less concerned with success than with setting those identity-political accents that are important to their core constituency. Accordingly, the party has stagnated for years at around 20 percent approval. To a large extent, Italy is still the country that brought Silvio Berlusconi to power and whose taunts are being laughed at again in this election campaign.
Most Italians are also not interested in discussions about gender-appropriate language, which are widespread in Germany. And with all these voters, the PD with its focus on identity politics has no chance.
Even the decision to use the small piazza as the place to start the election campaign shows that the party is not really trying to get votes. PD supporter Russo believes so too: “This performance should take place in Tor Bella Monaca.” The problem area on the outskirts of Rome is known for its high proportion of non-voters.
But the PD preferred to install their stage on the square, which is historically important for the left – and in the vicinity of which the square meter of residential property costs 7,800 euros. In Tor Bella Monaca it is 1990 euros.
The party has good arguments, Russo believes. After all, she has ruled in eight of the past eleven years and has done her job well. Starting with the clear commitment to the EU to the scientifically based fight against the corona pandemic and the solid support of Mario Draghi as Prime Minister. “But they don’t manage to reap the fruits of their labor,” says Russo.
Apparently, they don’t seem to be trying too hard either. Letta has spent the campaign so far responding to Meloni. First, Meloni complained in three videos in English, French and Spanish about the coverage of her abroad – followed by three videos by Letta, in which he criticized Meloni. In the same languages, of course. Shortly thereafter, Meloni gave an interview to the US television network Vox, shortly afterwards Letta appeared on CNN. His message: “Meloni in power would be a risk.”
When Letta finally enters the stage that evening, he doesn’t talk long about what the PD can do for the majority of the population – what’s the point, this majority isn’t present. Rather, his goal is to motivate party supporters to convince those around them who are undecided to join the PD.
The argument for this is simple: “Every vote that doesn’t go to our list is a vote for Giorgia Meloni.” Whether that will be enough to persuade voters worried about how to pay their next electric bill remains to be seen doubt.
“Kick-off Politics” is WELT’s daily news podcast. The most important topic analyzed by WELT editors and the dates of the day. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music or directly via RSS feed.
