“It’s undeniable that Schlein’s election has shifted the party farther from the liberal-democratic ideas I believe in," Cremona-born Cottarelli, 68, a former Italian spending review czar, ex-International Monetary Fund tax department director and currently head of Milan’s Catholic University observatory on public accounts, told la Repubblica at the weekend.
“I have great respect for Schlein, and I don’t think she’s wrong in shifting the party to the left. But having said that, I now find myself ill at ease on several issues," the economist, who says he will leave his Senate post by the end of the week, added.
A small number of more centrist leaning and former leftwing Christian Democrat figures have either left the PD or said they are thinking of doing so since Schlein beat more moderate candidate, Emilia-Romagna Governor Stefano Bonaccini, for the PD leadership at the end of February.
Centre right Forza Italia (FI) heavyweight and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Sunday that three-time ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s party might prove attractive for PD voters unhappy with Schlein’s move to the left.
The PD has enjoyed a poll bump under Schlein’s leadership, slightly closing the gap on Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party as Italy’s second biggest party.
The party has also been buoyed by a group of leftwingers, who broke away to form their own small party after former leader Matteo Renzi steered the PD closer to the centre, that have recently returned to the fold.
ANSA
