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Schlein and Salis share hugs and smiles, but say: “Let’s discuss problems, not ourselves”
🇮🇹 Italy /Elections & Politics

Schlein and Salis share hugs and smiles, but say: “Let’s discuss problems, not ourselves”

From Corriere della Sera · () Italian

Translated from Italian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Ongoing story
  • Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein and Genoa Mayor Silvia Salis appeared together at the Festa dell’Unità in Genoa as the center-left coalition began a three-day political gathering.
  • Salis remains a possible third candidate for some center-left figures, although she has repeatedly said she does not intend to run in primaries.
  • Schlein called for attention to health care, jobs, schools and industrial policy rather than speculation about coalition leaders and primary contests.

Elly Schlein and Silvia Salis arrived arm in arm, hugged, smiled and praised one another in Genoa. Behind the public warmth, however, the center-left’s leadership question remained firmly in view.

The scene unfolded in Piazza Caricamento, where the Festa dell’Unità returned to the city. Schlein, the Democratic Party leader, thanked Salis from the stage in front of about 1,000 people after the two had walked together. Schlein praised Salis’s administration of Genoa and referred to the “Genoa model,” the broad alliance that brought the city back to the left in May 2025 with Salis backed by all parties, including Matteo Renzi.

Thank you, Silvia, thank you!

— Elly SchleinSchlein praised Genoa Mayor Silvia Salis from the stage at the Festa dell’Unità.

The gathering opens a three-day attempt by the broad center-left alliance to relaunch its campaign against the right after its latest setback at a July rally in Naples. Salis was due to appear the next day with Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi, another possible primary contender with a reformist profile. On the following day, Five Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte was scheduled to share the stage with former minister Andrea Orlando.

I ask you to stop talking about us and talk about Italians’ concrete problems.

— Elly SchleinSchlein responded to questions about the center-left primary and the challenger to Giorgia Meloni.

Salis has no party membership and has repeatedly said she does not plan to enter a primary. Even so, some center-left figures see the former Olympic hammer thrower as a possible candidate for prime minister who could lead a broad alliance against Giorgia Meloni. Reproducing the Genoa formula nationally would be difficult, the report says, but not impossible. Neither Schlein nor Conte currently intends to step aside for a third name.

Pressed by reporters about a primary to choose Meloni’s challenger, Schlein refused to shift her position. “I ask you to stop talking about us and talk about Italians’ concrete problems,” she said. She urged the coalition to focus on health care, work, schools, the lack of industrial policy and common proposals. Clarity on the primary is not expected until mid-October, when the parties will know whether a new electoral law has been approved.

Once we have refined the coalition’s common program, we will decide everything else with our allies.

— Elly SchleinShe described her position on selecting a broader coalition candidate.
About this summary

Originally published by Corriere della Sera in Italian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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