Schlein: “It will be a militant autumn. Hands off the single allowance”

The battles over healthcare and minimum wage, the referendum against autonomy and the challenge on Ius scholae, but also the wars and the commitment of the European Union. From the Unity Festival of Abbadia San Salvatore, in the Siena area, Elly Schlein dribbles the controversies in the wide field and launches the “militant autumn”. The Democratic secretary is targeting the next maneuver Georgia Meloni: “He has no idea how to relaunch the economy, very serious if the government cancels the single allowance”.

Single allowance disappears. Meloni cuts family bonus

by Valentina Conte

August 29, 2024

Support for families may be skipped with the next budget. For the leader of the Democratic Party, the check is “a universal tool that has helped a lot”: “This is a sectarian government because when a measure, even if it works, does not bear their signature, they decide to distort it usually to put their flag on it”, attacks Schlein.

The secretary, back from vacation for her first political appointment, is on stage in Abbadia San Salvatore, in Tuscany. Her speech starts with economic issues: she asks that nursery schools be “free like in Tuscany”, but also help in purchasing school books because “after two years of the Meloni government, people are struggling to buy groceries”, then she promises to fight privatizations, with Poste in the lead.

The battle cry, however, is always the same: “Go sign the proposal on the minimum wage. Below nine euros it is exploitation and it is not legal”. Then the attack: “Meloni is disrespectful to over 3 million poor Italian workers”.

Another hot topic is the Calderoli reform. Here the opposition is united, the collection of signatures for the abrogative referendum has gone swimmingly: “The terrible differentiated autonomy wants to split the country in two, it is not a reform that penalizes only the South, but also penalizes the territories such as the internal areas”. Schlein then moves on to health: “We will defend public health from the cuts that the right-wing government is making”.

The secretary knows she cannot avoid internal problems in the alternative to the right. Elections are approaching, with Liguria leading the way. The candidacy of the former Democratic minister Andrea Orlando is still on stand-by. For this reason Schlein admits that he is still working “on alliances”. With the candidacies closed in Emilia Romagna and Umbria, the frontman for the post-Toti is still missing: “We are working these days hoping to build a winning competitive coalition”, Schlein defends himself. A commitment that requires patience, a virtue necessary to go beyond the barbs between progressives, also because, the secretary reiterates, the objective is “to beat the right”.

The international scenario is also part of the Tuscan debate. Schlein asks theEuropa “not to become a war economy”: “Continuous international diplomatic efforts must be made for peace”. On the Middle East, the Democrats request, “more commitment is needed” from Brussels and the Italian government. Then they say they “agree with the request for sanctions by Joseph Borrell for the settlers in the illegal settlements and for the extremist ministers, who are hindering the peace process, of the government Netanyahu“.

Leaving the stage, she spoke about the political case of the summer: Forza Italia’s openness to the reform of the citizenship law. “Starting from our proposals – Schlein specifies – we are available for discussion so as not to disappoint the expectations of those who have been waiting for this law for decades”.