Italy: Eli Schlein, the new face of the left

” We have won, this is a small big revolution. » With a broad smile, Elie Schlein thanked supporters Sunday evening, February 26, after the Democratic Party’s (PD, center-left) primary victory. For the first time since its establishment in 2007, the organization was headed by a woman. At 37, Elie Schlein replaces Enrico Letta, who announced he was stepping down two years after taking control of the party, following the latter’s defeat in the September 2022 legislative elections won by the Fratelli d’Italia (extreme right). ), Giorgi Meloni’s party.

Nothing predicted the victory of Eli Schlein at the end of this primary, which mobilized more than a million sympathies throughout Italy. With more than 53% of the vote, the MP still defeated Stefano Bonacini, the president of the Emilia-Romagna region (north), during which he was the right-hand man of the regional administration. The latter, due to the strength of its popularity in its region of origin, represented a more centrist wing, while its rival positioned itself clearly on the left, emphasizing equal pay, climate justice or civil rights. ” In the morning [dimanche] At around 2 o’clock in the morning, we saw a large crowd in the cities compared to the provinces, and we said to ourselves that a miracle was happening.” Says Francesco Boccia, PD senator who coordinated the new secretary’s campaign.

A blessing from Lugano, Italian-speaking Switzerland, to a Ukrainian-Jewish American father and Italian mother, both university professors. It was in Bologna, the laboratory of the country’s left, that Elie Schlein studied law and forged his political activism. In 2008, then in 2012, he flew to the United States to volunteer for the Barack Obama campaign. The following year, he made a name for himself when he became a spokesperson for the Occupy-PD movement. After that, the youth of the party protested the “betrayal” of the PD parliamentarians, who thwarted the election of Romano Prodi as the President of the Republic. At that time, the activist Schlein was already carrying out a project to renew the party’s leading leaders.

“Face of Decay”

The desire for reform is still intact and has even become the driving force behind his campaign. “This party has become an image of a closed ruling class that does not open its doors to young people and women. He trusted the world On February 14, the second day of local elections in Lombardy and Lazio, where the PD was largely beaten by the right-wing and far-right coalition in power. Today, his campaign has won over the peninsula’s youngest and most urban population.