Of Francesco Galofaro – IULM University of Milan
“Putin won”: this was the immediate comment made by the director of Corriere della Sera with the polls still open, after the release of the French and German data and Macron’s decision to call early elections. Luciano Fontana is not a supporter of peace and the new scenario is, from his point of view, disturbing. The Eurosceptic and “polemosceptic” right is clearly growing in France (Le Pen) and Germany (AFD), i.e. in the two countries that are protagonists of the axis that has governed the fate of Europe. The EPP, apparently, is solid and is gaining seats, but is divided internally between the option of renewing the alliance with the social democrats, increasingly poor in ideas and prospects for change, and that of opening up to the conservatives (where it ranks , as protagonist, Giorgia Meloni). We are also witnessing a collapse of the ALDE liberals, i.e. centrist Europeanism, and the greens, who strongly support the war in Europe. According to Fontana, the popular-social democratic majority made the mistake of always presenting the same menu, to the point of creating disgust in its customers and causing them to change restaurants. The culinary metaphor covers the grotesque failures of European policies in France and Germany, where the war created a social unrest to which people preferred to respond with indifference or the truncheon. The concerns of the cosmopolitan European bourgeoisie, well expressed by Fontana, is that it is Putin and his inconvenient US ally who benefit from the division and weakness of the Union. The hope of Fontana and the interest groups she represents is that Giorgia Meloni will enter the power vacuum represented by the crisis of the Franco-German axis by continuing the conflict with Russia and, at the same time, providing answers on important dossiers such as agriculture and climate.
Surprises on the left: overall, the GUE left holds, losing one seat. The results are interesting La France Insoumise (10%) and, in Germany, by Sahra Wegenecht, which establishes itself on the Linke and is proposed as a project for the renewal of the German left. The reasons why these two lefts have achieved good results are the same ones that worry Corriere della Sera: the social repercussions of European policies, first of all the war, benefit those who consistently position themselves as critical of the EU and for peace. .
The Italian situation: in Italy Giorgia Meloni asserts herself over Salvini’s League. The reason is easy to explain: his plan was, after all, the only truly new political project: to replace the Social Democrats in the majority that governs Brussels and shift the European political axis to the right. FdI did not propose the change generically: it explained how it intends to implement it. The Prime Minister’s success is based on very solid foundations: Fratelli d’Italia is no longer the honeymoon party, it has a project aimed at cultural change in the country that should not be underestimated – especially by its opponents.
To the left, the PD beats the 5 Stars and goes against the trend of the result of the European social democrats. The archiving of the “wide field” and the showdown between Conte and Schlein paid off for the latter, even in the regional elections of Piedmont and in those of Bari. Undoubtedly, the electoral flows will clarify what happened. The hypothesis is that the supporters of the broad camp ended up voting for the PD, while the 5 stars have already largely disappointed their most ardent supporters, who this time abstained. In fact, Conte had already renounced those votes to redesign and relocate the 5 stars. However, he seems to have inherited the contradiction of the old Bertinottian Refoundation, between the need to beat the right and the legitimate aspiration to contest the hegemony of the PD.
Among the “pacifists”, the most interesting result is that of the red-greens of Bonelli and Fratoianni. I don’t think he paid much for Salis’ flagship candidacy nor for her positions on the war, which are among the most moderate and backward we have seen. These reflect a rather glaring internal contradiction: theoretically it is a force for peace but some of those parliamentarians could join the European green group, the most warmongering force there is.
Rather, this formation has proven stable over time and hints at something more than a mere electoral cartel. Therefore, it confirmed the trust of its voters and attracted new consensus.
Another characteristic that may have convinced the pacifist and left-wing electorate to vote for Fratoianni compared to the list put forward by Santoro is the fact that it is a party with a well-rounded programme; the opposite of an electoral list based on a single issue, with unclear positions on everything – even on the opportunity to leave NATO. I have already written about this previously: if the communist left wants to win again, it must stop focusing on the charismatic leader sent by providence and work on building stable, unitary political subjects that reawaken the passion of grassroots militants.
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