Naples – Vincenzo De Luca claims political authorship of the "wide field" and points the finger at the "confusion" currently rocking the national center-left debate.
On the sidelines of an inspection of the San Francesco district of Naples, where he illustrated the progress of the redevelopment projects, the outgoing president of the Campania Region recalled how, in his opinion, the experiment with a broad alliance began right here five years ago.
"We did the broad field in Campania five years ago," De Luca declared. "I see a lot of confusion and people with short memories. This is the true broad field, the one we built. What we have today, at the national level, is only a minor consequence of that choice."
De Luca linked that model to subsequent victories in the capital and at the regional level, where the progressive front found unity around the figures of Gaetano Manfredi for the Municipality of Naples and Roberto Fico for the leadership of the Campania Region. A path that the center-left leadership now intends to also point to as a benchmark for building a competitive alliance in the upcoming general elections.
The outgoing governor recalled the numbers from the 2020 regional elections, when the coalition supporting him, then called a "political alliance" or "progressive alliance," garnered—he emphasized—record support. "I was voted in by 70% of the citizens," he remarked. "That alliance in Campania received 800 million votes, 500 more than in this election."
In his argument, De Luca did not spare a jab at the Five Star Movement, currently a linchpin of the national debate on the broad front alongside the Democratic Party. "The Five Star Movement did not join the coalition because of its own choice, not my choice," he stated. "They were still in an ideological phase, and Conte's innovation had not yet occurred." This was a direct reference to the transformation brought to the Movement by the former Prime Minister, who in recent years has opened up to the idea of structural alliances with the center-left.
The political message, in the midst of the post-election adjustment phase, is twofold: on the one hand, De Luca asserts his role as a pioneer of the Campania model; on the other, he signals to the national center-left leadership that the regional experience, both in terms of numbers and formulas, remains a laboratory that—in his view—cannot be ignored. This is a way to remain at the center of internal debate, even as outgoing president.
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Comments (1)
De Luca is right when he says the broad camp originated in Campania, but I think it's not just a question of numbers. The confusion within the center-left is a major problem that must be resolved as soon as possible to avoid future disruptions.