According to what has been learned from the main regional press bodies, it would seem that the Sardinian Democratic Party has decided to renounce, in the present circumstance, definitively, and perhaps not otherwise questionably, the so-called "primaries" for the sole purpose of favoring the compactness of the centre-left alliance (M5s, Progressives and Independentists), but in reality, it would seem, with the 5 Star Movement which, from the beginning, had put its unquestionable veto on it.

In short, although it has been specified that the instrument of the primaries continues to represent, "in line with what is written in the statute, the preferred method for choosing the candidacy for president of the Region", however, since such a criterion of choice could have compromised the unity and the stability of the alliance, it was decided to, so to speak, "suspend" its operations, even if only temporarily.

Whether it was an appropriate choice will only be determined by the polls, and we certainly understand the need for pooling of energy to avoid the phenomenon of dispersion and/or fragmentation of the vote and indirectly favor the competing coalition. The centre-left coalition, in particular, seems to want to propose itself as a complex of sensibilities, which, despite being a synthetic expression, each component, of the same (or almost) same ideological matrix (at least that seems to be the impression), however, would decline it, as made the decline, to different and competing (sometimes) subjectivity. Probably for this reason, as announced, we will proceed to draw up a list of criteria to identify the presidential candidate, among which the "ability to keep together the political forces and movements that make up the coalition" would appear to emerge, not without neglecting the "electoral weight represented by the members of the table".

Well. If everything depended on the Roundtable, there would be no question, but where would the potential center-left voters' satisfaction with the possible upstream choice be? The centre-right (but perhaps only Psd'Az and Lega?), for its part, seems to be at the starting line with the forward momentum of the outgoing president, who seems to want to propose himself again to the approval of the Sardinian people in the name of continuity. There seems to be no mention of primaries, which, in all likelihood, would not be bad within a coalition left "orphaned" by President Silvio Berlusconi, as a very strong expression of compactness and success of an unprecedented alliance of his ingenious creation.

But, beyond the choices of the field, it would not have been, and/or it would not be better, on both sides, to consult the Sardinian electorate in order to know their satisfaction with the subjective expression of the man or woman who will be then an expression of one or the other coalition and, ultimately, of the Sardinian region? Even more so when, looking at the past experiences of the entire Italian territory, the first applications of primary elections in Italy took place precisely in a context of administrative and regional importance as they were aimed at the full and effective valorization of political formations at a peripheral level. What seems to have changed? Why do primary elections, if one excludes the exception dating back over time, and unless there is a mistake, the Roman primary elections within the National Alliance, always seem to have arisen as a prerogative of the centre-left?

Let's be clear: the political dynamics, and consequently party dynamics, can only be the result of the passage of time and of the social articulations that characterize the different periods from time to time, but, probably, what should remain identical over time is the safeguarding of democratic participation as the direct involvement of the units and fractions of the People that the different parties intend to represent through their political proposal, and therefore, ultimately, the direct and engaging relationship between the "leadership" and the "base".

Saying it differently, the channels of intervention for the choice of the future presidential candidate could be summarized in approximately three steps: 1) promotion of maximum participation by activists and voters in the choice of the common candidate for the office of President of the Sardinia Region; 2) preservation of the need to safeguard the declared and understandable reasons for unity around an authoritative leadership, whatever it may be; 3) the leadership's ability to become the bearer and executor of a shared program, to act as a guide for the coalition as a whole during the electoral campaign and, in the event of victory, the ability to guide the Government for the entire legislature. Probably easy to say, but not as easy to do, perhaps (the doubtful formula seems necessary), where the so-called "maximum participation" appears to be missing (and we reiterate the "pair").

Certainly, at an argumentative level and only to offer a general hypothetical reasoning, it is undeniable that whatever methodology is intended to be used, it would in any case be suitable for presenting critical system issues when for example, in the context and on the occasion of the primaries for the identification of a candidacy, the result can be, so to speak, "predetermined" by the party secretariats and the so-called primaries, consequently, are called only to bring the agreement reached to popular ratification. The latter circumstance would risk reducing the primaries to mere appearance and ending up confirming the power of choice of political parties. Conversely, highly competitive primaries could lead to "breaking candidacies", i.e. not supported by the leadership of the major parties, with all understandable consequences in terms of maintaining alliances. Meaning that perhaps, all things considered, the choice made in this case, and upstream, by the Sardinian centre-left coalition would not be blameworthy in light of the many existing nuances, especially when one considers that the possible prevalence of a potential candidate chosen by the base of voters, could lead to the weakening of the majority party forces so as not to be fully supported by their respective secretariats.

Having said this, let us not be led to believe that the value of the primary elections is dormant, which, indeed, considering the understandable choice of the Sardinian centre-left, could, conversely, constitute a formidable added value within the opposing coalition, for be an element of rupture with the methodologies of the past. Moreover, every innovation is characterized by the advantage of the curiosity that it is capable of transporting, and could favor the turnout at the polls which has been greatly reduced in recent times, and not only at a regional level. Putting it differently: every choice that goes against the trend, in the current situation, could represent the winning key. In short, the choice, on both sides, will be difficult from different and multiple points of view, and primarily involves the determination of a structured program of useful reforms to be carried forward in the common interest. All that remains is to wait for the identification of the Presidential candidates to understand what type of five-year period we will have to wait for, with an eye always turned to the future towards the full realization of the prerogatives and needs of the island reality.

Giuseppina Di Salvatore

(Lawyer – Nuoro)

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