What is happening
Speaking at the Il Fatto Quotidiano festival in Versilia, Conte said the Democratic Party had indicated the strongest-party rule as its preferred criterion. He proposed instead evaluating jointly which candidate would be most competitive, as he said had been done in regional elections, but stated that the proposal was rejected by the Democratic Party. Conte said the M5S would therefore enter the Democratic Party’s field through primaries, while rejecting the claim that the Movement necessarily wants primaries or that he wants to return to Palazzo Chigi.
Why is it on the Radar?
The statements highlight different positions over how a possible alliance should choose its candidate: the Democratic Party is described as favoring the largest party’s claim, while Conte advocates a joint assessment of competitiveness and opposes what he calls a hegemonic rule.