Matteo Renzi's pirouettes

What is behind Renzi's decision to suddenly open to an alliance with the much-reviled Giuseppe Conte and that Elly Schlein described as a succubus of the 5Stelle Movement's strategies? A choice that seems like the best gift Renzi could have given to his arch-rival Carlo Calenda. Let's see.

Renzi is regarded, almost unanimously, as a kind of genius of Italian politics understood as ability to maneuver, unpredictability and unscrupulousness of decisions and changes of camp. A reputation justified by the skill with which Renzi entered the national political scene like a storm, knocking out then Prime Minister Enrico Letta, sending home Pierluigi Bersani, D'Alema and most of the old guard of the PD, favoring the government between the PD and 5Stelle, but immediately afterwards operating a split to found "Italia viva" , and a few months later doing everything to torpedo Giuseppe Conte and pave the way for Mario Draghi's governissimo. After racking up this series of spectacular moves Renzi devoted himself to professional activities as an international strategy consultant and lecturer, with considerable economic benefits.

Since then his political lucidity seems to have faded. He tried to build a center area but found himself in the way of a tough guy like Calenda who created a competing Italia Viva party. The two allied in the 2022 policies but then began a guerrilla warfare that made Calenda and Renzi totally incompatible and not only because of their two edgy characters. Renzi wanted a free hand in deciding overnight on political strategies. Calenda was, rightly, offended by this narcissistic egocentrism and retorted with not much different currency. The two eventually divorced, stood separately in the European elections, and failed to pass the 4% quorum.

After this defeat ,in the Action polls, Calenda's party has climbed back up while Renzi's party has taken a nosedive. Renzi had bet heavily on the collapse of Forza Italia, feeling that he was the direct heir to the party founded by Berlusconi. But that has not been the case. Under Tajani's straightforward leadership Forza Italia has recovered well and seems on track to continue growing. Renzi has realized this and has decided to make another pirouette: to open to an alliance with Pd and 5S. Evidently he smells a rat. Early elections? Need to return to the scene to prove that he is the one who can build the wide field, perhaps to destroy it the next day? Certainly this move has displaced his party, which knew nothing about it, and caused a perhaps irremediable rupture with other Italia Viva members such as Marattin. Italia viva could lose other pieces to the benefit of Azione, provided that Calenda does not also make the usual mistakes of the past and manages his party in a more inclusive way and leaving room for internal debate and the many political personalities who are part of it, such as Carfagna, Bonetti, Gelmini and perhaps,tomorrow,Marattin himself.