The rules of equal conditions, which could complicate a two-way confrontation, but which are not yet ready. And the lists, which must be filed within a month. As the appointment with the European elections approaches, rumors are swirling about the announced TV duel between the Prime Minister and Fdi, Giorgia Meloniand the secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein, but a date has not yet been set. Neither of them has yet released their reservation and both are busy, in the meantime, with the puzzle of the candidatures, which are more of a puzzle for the dem leader than for the prime minister, while on the left, the hypothesis of Ignazio Marino's return to politics also arises. However, he is a candidate on the left of the Democratic Party, with Avs. The former mayor of Rome has not yet made a decision but the formalization of his race for the European Parliament could arrive as early as this week (while in Piedmont his former chief of staff, Roberto, is expected to run again with the Left and the Greens Tricarico). An additional problem is the competition on the left for Schlein, who already has to face the discontent of the incumbents (“the lists are not the Island of the famous” says Pina Picierno who found the college “occupied by Marco Tarquinio” and with Lucia Annunziata already made official as the leader). The staff of the Democrats and the Prime Minister have been in contact for weeks to finalize the details of the challenge on TV, but time is running out given that the level playing field trap will soon come into play. On Wednesday the Rai Supervisory Commission will listen to Agcom on the proposed regulation, which comes into force when the electoral rallies are called, and which should be voted on on 9 April. Once in force, the rules on the equal visibility of all contenders would, the experts reason, complicate the two-way duel, also because voting is done using the proportional system.
This week, meanwhile, there could be an appetizer of the confrontation between the leaders, but at a distance, in Bruno Vespa's living room on Rai 1 ready to host Giuseppe Conte (Tuesday, confirmed), then Schlein and Meloni (Wednesday and Thursday respectively, barring changes in last minute agenda). If for the Democratic Party secretary the problems come from his own party, for Meloni the unknowns are linked to the race between his allies, with Fi which could overtake the League at the polls on 9 June. What worries us are not so much Antonio Tajani's projects – strengthening the centre, building a sort of Italian EPP with Maurizio Lupi but also with Claudio Scajola's civics and the SVP – but the excesses of Matteo Salvini who never misses an opportunity to launch messages against the outgoing commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen. The president is also officially on the field for an encore, designated by the people as spitzenkandidat. But the good institutional relations between Meloni and von der Leyen should not be confused, as Fdi repeats, with the support for the candidacy. A system, moreover, that neither Id nor Ecr (Meloni's European family) likes, even if an internal reflection has not yet been addressed (in 2019 the conservatives finally nominated their president, the Czech Jan Zahradil). But the real game, they keep repeating at Fdi, will open after 9 June, when the parties on the field will be weighed, at national and European level. It is premature to insist on the request to clarify whether or not to support von der Leyen and equally premature, say the Melonian leaders, to now talk about a government reshuffle. If there is a minister called to be commissioner, a space will be freed up. If Daniela Santanché were to decide to leave after a possible indictment, she would get rid of another one. Scenarios that are still too hypothetical, the reasoning of the front ranks of Fdi, which for now is preparing the tensile structures that will host the party's programmatic conference directly on the beach of Pescara at the end of April. And the announcement, which everyone hopes for, of Meloni's candidacy.