Milan, 4 Aug. (LaPresse) – “I see no alternative to primaries. It would be lovely if the leaders could gather in a room and all emerge in agreement on the name of Mr X or Ms Y, but I don’t think we’re realistically in that position, and what’s more, I don’t even think this Mr X exists.” Dario Franceschini, a senator for the Democratic Party, made these remarks in an interview with La Repubblica. “Enough of this endless debate about whether or not to hold primaries. Let’s just get on with it. But be careful,” he says. “We’ve set such a bad example, at party level, in the past, that our people, rather than being happy to choose who to be led by, are now frightened by the potential divisive effects.” For Franceschini, “there must be clear rules. To start with, agreement on certain key common points – not a 300-page document, but the fundamentals, yes.” On the issue of Ukraine, Franceschini explains that “we won’t be voting on whether to supply arms or not” and that among the “important policy points that must be agreed upon beforehand, I also see foreign policy”. “And formal recognition of the election result must be binding: it is not the case that whoever loses can then reopen the debate.” “The winner must not put their name on their party’s emblem,” he emphasises. “We’ve been through this before in 2001, when Francesco Rutelli was the coalition’s candidate and put his name on the Margherita emblem; it won us many more votes. Whoever wins the primaries, from the very next day, no longer represents their party but the common programme and the coalition. Schlein is right.”
Centre-left, Franceschini: “Primaries should only take place after an agreement”
Milan, 4 Aug. (LaPresse) – “I see no alternative to primaries. It would be lovely if the leaders could gather in a room and all emerge in agreement on the name of Mr X or Ms Y, but I don’t think we’re realistically in that position, and what’s more, I don’t even think this Mr X exists.” Dario Franceschini, a senator for the Democratic Party, made these remarks in an interview with La Repubblica. “Enough of this endless debate about whether or not to hold primaries. Let’s just get on with it. But be careful,” he says. “We’ve set such a bad example, at party level, in the past, that our people, rather than being happy to choose who to be led by, are now frightened by the potential divisive effects.” For Franceschini, “there must be clear rules. To start with, agreement on certain key common points – not a 300-page document, but the fundamentals, yes.” On the issue of Ukraine, Franceschini explains that “we won’t be voting on whether to supply arms or not” and that among the “important policy points that must be agreed upon beforehand, I also see foreign policy”. “And formal recognition of the election result must be binding: it is not the case that whoever loses can then reopen the debate.” “The winner must not put their name on their party’s emblem,” he emphasises. “We’ve been through this before in 2001, when Francesco Rutelli was the coalition’s candidate and put his name on the Margherita emblem; it won us many more votes. Whoever wins the primaries, from the very next day, no longer represents their party but the common programme and the coalition. Schlein is right.”
