The television duel between the prime minister Giorgia Meloni and the secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein in view of the European Championships, scheduled – after long negotiations – for next May 23rd Door to door on Rai 1, brings together representatives of the majority and the opposition. Obviously these are those excluded from the TV debate which, they claim, reduces the European elections to a two-way challenge. Everyone is protesting, from the Green and Left Alliance to Forza Italia and up to the 5 Star Movement. Because, they say, face to face in the Vespa home violates the level playing field. So much so that the president of the Supervisory Commission Barbara Florida (M5s) sent a letter to Agcom, the Communications Authority, in which he asked guarantees on the respect for equal conditions.
The Authority will meet as usual on Wednesday monitoring on the level playing field and could take a position on the issue in the form of “advice” addressed to Rai, which in turn has asked for an opinion and will most likely hear the answer, according to the regulation, that the comparison is possible as long as it is given equal space to other leaders. So, while Rai awaits the response, the director of the program arrives to propose a solution TgLa7 Enrico Mentana. “In agreement with the leaders of La7 I make official the proposal for two televised confrontations between the leaders of the lists competing for the European elections on 8 and 9 June. Comparisons will take place Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th June at 9.20pm: taking the last disclosable SWG survey, that of May 23rd, we will reserve the evening of June 6th for representatives of the major lists. This is the proposal, we await the answers,” Mentana wrote on her social profiles.
The first to arrive is that of the Cinquestelle leader, Giuseppe Conte: “I accept the director Enrico Mentana’s proposal to participate in a discussion between all the leaders in view of the vote on 8 and 9 June. It is a method that respects the principle of equality between political forces and does not give away to anyone undue advantages. I thank him and A7 to offer politics a plural and coherent comparison with the scheme of the European elections, which, as is known, are independent of any coalition and majority/opposition dynamics”. Even the vice prime minister “Matteo Salvini is available to make comparisons anywhere and with anyone, with seriousness and clear rules” as the League specifies in a note.
As far as Rai is concerned, theGreens and Left Alliance he had already made it known, last Monday, that he had contacted the 5 Star Movement to evaluate the possibility of an appeal to Agcom against the Meloni-Schlein challenge. Conte had defined the duel as a “deception” for the voters: “It represents a leader who puts himself at the head of the majority and one at the head of the opposition. It’s not reality”, because the vote is proportional and every force runs for itself, he had underlined. But criticism also came from the centre-right: “It would be better to do it the American way, with all the leaders on stage. There are no leaders of series A and leaders of series B. And there is a plural competition”, he had said to Messenger Antonio Tajani, deputy prime minister and leader of Forza Italia. While the leader of Italia Viva Matteo Renzi he went so far as to say that face to face “maybe there won’t be“: “In my opinion it doesn’t work according to the rules, the Agcom rules and the level playing field don’t allow it,” he states in an interview on YouTube. “After that, Vespa sent me an email last night to discuss with Tajani and I said yes, I have no problem, I’m available to discuss with anyone”.
