Primaries in the Italian Democratic party have been a major innovation for the party and the country
The Italian Democratic party has a new national leader: Pierluigi Bersani, a former government minister under Romano Prodi. He was not nominated by the national assembly, nor appointed by the members. He was instead elected last Sunday by more than 2.8 million people that voted in a consultation open to the party’s supporters.
The party organised nearly 10,000 ballot boxes around the country and sympathisers (even 16 year olds and legal immigrants that do not have the right to vote in the national election) had a decisive say in the choice.
The constitution of the party provides that everyone who shares the party’s values and its manifesto can choose the national leader and the 20 regional leaders. While a first round of vote, restricted to party’s members, selects a shortlist of candidates, it is not necessary to have paid the annual membership to take part in the final election.
This system of election has been a major innovation not just for the Democratic party, but for the political culture of the country, once firmly based on ideological parties with strong memberships and a hierarchical organisation.
When, in the spring of 2007, the Left Democratic party and the Margherita (a coalition of Christian-democrat and centrist parties) decided to merge together, the direct election of the leader by the electorate seemed the only solution, that could give to the new party a fresh start and the necessary popular support.
At that time, it was necessary to prevent the new party from being just the sum of two political élites and to boost participation in the project. Under a provisional rule, 3.5 million people voted for the national leader and a national assembly in charge of writing the party’s statute. The former mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, was elected to the leadership. His election was not a surprise, since he was supported by the majority of the parliamentary groups and all the big noises in the merging parties.
The strong support (2.7 million votes) received in the popular vote, however, allowed Veltroni to impose a party’s constitution based on the involvement not just of the members but also of the supporters, which was a world wide novelty. According to the new rules the electors, and not the members, have the right to decide the political line, to elect both national and local party leaderships and to select the candidates for the local and general elections.
This innovation did not arrive without fierce discussion and public controversy. Many feared that this new system would discourage people to join the party and that it might allow someone not really involved in the life of the party to determine its policies and its leadership.
The growing membership, however, the huge participation, and the fact that the final result of the vote reflected substantially the internal vote of the members, are the best arguments against these criticisms. They show that it is still possible for a new form of political organisation, which values participation and really empowers citizens in the life of the party.
This article was originally published by The Progressive on the 28th of October 2009.
