By Silvia Marchetti
ROME (MaceNews) – After a deep crisis and loss of support that lasted more than four years, Italy’s Democratic Party is leading polls with a higher chance of winning next year’s general vote and putting it in position to push through key reforms, said party officials. Still, polls show a tie with the opposition extremist group Brothers of Italy.
The Democrats played a key role in the re-appointment of head of state Sergio Mattarella for another seven-year term and are now defining pro-growth measures that will top their 2022-2023 government agenda.
“It took us years to recover lost ground, particularly after the historical blow we suffered at the 2018 elections. The Democrats were defeated but now, after re-defining our leadership and goals, we’re ready to cash in on our growing consensus,” said a Democrat source.
The Democrats lead polls with 21%, ahead of all other parties comprising premier Mario Draghi’s cabinet of national unity. They moved up by 4% support in the past two years, and gained popularity when former premier Enrico Letta agreed to take on the leadership and give the party a thorough makeover.
Sources argued that the Democrats’ “majority stake in the government” will allow them to push through key pro-growth measures the party has long been advocating, mainly a justice reform and more funding for low earners and families.
“If we look back, just a short while ago the 5 Star Movement was way ahead of us, they were the first party in Italy in terms of consensus, while today they face a major crisis. The far right League party, too, is declining. Both are our ruling allies but we’re in a stronger position,” said another official.
Back in 2018 the League and the 5 Stars Movement won the elections and joined forces in an unlikely, wobbly ‘yellow-green’ populist coalition which collapsed last year after a bitter fallout between the two ruling allies, that nonetheless accepted to team up again to give rise to Draghi’s cabinet.
Recent surveys suggest the Democrats have the potential of reaching 30% in support, which raises their chance of securing a relative majority at the next vote scheduled in 2023. They would still have to team up with other parties to form a government, and at present the ‘experimental’ partnership with the 5 Stars at recent local elections has proven successful in spite of party differences.
Other minor centrist and leftist parties, including former premier Matteo Renzi’s Italia Viva party, could join forces in a Democratic-led cabinet to secure the required majority to rule.
However, officials warned that the real challenge the Democrats face is the rise of the extremist, former fascist party Brothers of Italy led by Giorgia Meloni, the only woman-leader on Italy’s political stage.
According to polls, it’s currently a tie between the Democrats and Brothers of Italy, close to 21% as well.
“Given our stronger role within the government and growing consensus, we are the only moderate, leftist and reformatory political group in Italy with enough strength to stave off the risk that an extremist party such as Brothers of Italy may have any chance at all of winning, or even just partially winning, the next elections”, said a Democrat deputy.
But while surpassing the 5 Stars Movement and the League has gone rather smoothly, beating the Brothers of Italy may be tougher. Democratic party officials acknowledged that Meloni’s group was continuing to benefit from its anti-Draghi stance and the fact that it continues to be the only political entity sitting in the opposition in parliament, thus ‘collecting all dissent’.
“We really need to boost our agenda and action this year, define a clear electoral program that builds trust in voters also by exposing all the ‘negative’, nationalist and anti-European stance of Brothers of Italy,” added the Democratic deputy.