- Elly Schlein becomes chairwoman of the Partito Democratico (PD).
- The 37-year-old prevails against favorite Stefano Bonaccini.
- Schlein grew up in Lugano and has Swiss citizenship.
Elly Schlein’s victory is considered a surprise. In the first ballot, she was defeated by Stefano Bonaccini, who was considered the favourite, when the party members had selected two out of four candidates. Bonaccini is President of the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna.
In the second ballot, all Italians could choose between the two remaining Bonaccini and Schlein. Schlein received 54 percent of the votes, according to the Italian news agency Ansa. One million centre-left voters took part in the polls.
Lega chairman Matteo Salvini already congratulated Elly Schlein on her victory. Bonaccini said it was now up to Schlein to set “the direction of the party.” Swiss SP politicians also congratulated the 37-year-old dual citizen.
«The social-democratic people are alive and ready to rise. I received a clear mandate for real change in the party, »said Schlein after her election victory. “We will focus on fighting any kind of inequality,” she added.
Elly Schlein wants to give the strongest opposition party in Italy a clear direction to the left, explains SRF Italy correspondent Peter Voegeli. It is considered progressive, ecological and feminist. Her main topics are climate protection and the fight against social inequalities and the precarious living conditions of many people.
Legend:
Not a classic social democratic party: the party of social democrats has only existed in this form since 2007. It consists of former communists and former members of the former right-centre Democrazia Cristiana party, explains Voegeli.
imago images/Riccardo Fabi
According to Voegeli, a sharpened party profile is needed to get the Partito Democratico back on the road to success. It is also important to have a profiled person who holds the party together at the top – in a country where parties quickly dissolve and form new ones and where there are almost more electoral alliances than parties with a clear program.
In addition, it is important for the PD to clarify the relationship with the Cinque Stelle. Because the parties are now tending to appeal to the same voters, says the Italian correspondent. Left electoral alliances are also important. The lack of this led to defeats in the last elections.
Advantage for Prime Minister Meloni
Positioning yourself as anti-Meloni is certainly clever, Voegeli estimates. But Meloni can also benefit. Because since the last elections, the political landscape has once again become more clearly left and right. That makes it much more difficult for Meloni’s potentially reliable allies – Berlusconi of Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini of the Lega – to enter into a governing alliance with such a left-wing PD.
Legend:
The daughter of an Italian professor and an American professor grew up in Ticino and also has Swiss citizenship.
Keystone/AP/LaPresse/Cecilia Fabiano
Elly Schlein, 37, grew up in Lugano and is American, Italian and Swiss nationals. She is openly bisexual and lives with a woman. Schlein is mostly without make-up – that too is a political statement in Italy, according to Voegeli.
The politician was in the European Parliament. “It’s international, in a country that’s actually very self-centered,” says Voegeli. Schlein resigned from the Partito Democratico in 2015 in protest against the then Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Now she has re-entered to become a successful leader of the party.