In December, the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Matarella, dissolved the Parliament and called for general elections. For the Italian Left, these elections bring novelties, and the most important thing has been the appearance of the popular list Potere al Popolo. After obtaining in a few days three times the 25,000 signatures it needed to stand for election, the movement has entered the electoral race as nobody expected.

Without the nature and structure of the traditional aspects, the popular initiative created in Naples has been extended to the whole of Italy as a foam. The motto and list head of the project is Neapolitan activist Viola Carofalo. After the failure of his candidature for the elections of the Communist Party, on 4 March Potere al Popolo will be presented as the only referent of the Italian transformative left.

During these days, several well-known faces on the left have shown their support for the Carofalo list. These include the famous filmmaker Ken Loach and former footballer Paolo Sollier. It is expected that in the coming days the mayor of Naples, Luigi de Magistris, and several relevant characters on the left will request the vote for Potere al Popolo.

Despite the support of many Italian social partners (No TAV!, USB, CGIL…), it remains to be seen whether the citizen will be able to enter Parliament. To this end, it will be difficult for them to exceed 3% of the votes required by the new electoral law in order to have representation in Parliament. According to surveys published in various Italian media, the new candidature would win between 2 and 2.5% of the votes.

“Over and above the great abstention that is expected, we also want to convince those who have come to those who have never voted and become invisible to the state,” Carofalo said in an interview in the Italian chain La7. On your way to the support of the left electorate, you will face the Five Star Movement (M5S), the PD of Matteo Renzi, until now ruler, and the newly created Liberi and Iguali Party, of Pietro Grasso.

The divided centre-left
Centre-Left reaches the 2018 general election after the split of the Abertzale left. Austerity policies led by the PD, which has ruled the last legislature, have caused cracks in social democracy.

One of the political consequences of this breakdown has been the creation of the Liberi and Iguali party, led by Pietro Grasso and aspiring to independence. The candidacy of the former Prime Minister and leader of the PD, Matteo Renzi, has moderated his message to get hold of the Electoral College of the Basque Study Centre. Meanwhile, the Liberi and Iguali movement tries to monopolize the left vote, claiming that the PD has embraced the theses of the right.

Forecasts are bad for both sides. It remains to be seen which way the parties will take on the renewed stage that will open after 4 March. Potere al Popolo can take advantage of the centre-left crisis to appeal to its freshness and position itself as a real left-wing alternative to Italian society.

The Five Star Movement (M5S), the M5S game created by comedian Beppe
Grillo, is one of the strongest in the polls and has many chances of being the first force. However, it will not be able to form government unless an agreement is reached with another major political party in the country. The possibility of a government formed by the Grillo Party and the PD is perceived today in a distant way.

Far from the leftist values that the M5S originally demanded, the reactionary positions that have been expressed in recent years in the face of immigration can take a toll on its voters. Even more so following the attack on African immigrants perpetrated last week by an extreme right-wing militant in the city of Maceratta in North Africa. Another challenge that Potere al Popolo will face until March 4 will be to denounce the M5S’s risky populist speech, if he wants to take part of the vote on the left.

In a scenario in which the alliances of
the right and the extreme right will be necessary, what has gained more strength among the options of forming government is that formed by several right-wing parties. The sum of the xenophobic parties Forza Italia, Lega Nord and Fratelli di Italia, from Berlusconi, could give rise to a right-wing parliamentary majority. That is where the formation of the government depends or not.

Without fear of election results, the birth of Potere al Popolo is a sign of the climate of empowerment that Italian social movements have experienced in recent years. Current local, within the philosophy of global think, the idea of a neighborhood assembly in Naples has become a tool that wants to be an alternative to general elections. The result is not unsatisfactory for the Italian social partners, who have achieved in a few months of work. After the elections and without waiting for the government, the agents who have supported this experience will continue to do so.