Schlein and Conte try to hug it out

Just days before the vote on the justice referendum, Italy’s center-left is trying to present a united front in support of the “No” campaign. From Rome’s Piazza del Popolo, leaders of the Democratic Party, the Five Star Movement, and the Greens-Left Alliance made a final appeal to voters, highlighting a renewed sense of cohesion after months of internal divisions.

On stage, Elly Schlein and Giuseppe Conte took turns speaking, also sharing a symbolic embrace in front of photographers. A gesture clearly aimed at reinforcing the image of a common front against the government-backed reform. Yet beyond the optics, this unity appears more declared than fully achieved.

One detail did not go unnoticed: there was no group photo featuring all the leaders together. Officially attributed to organizational issues, the absence nevertheless reflects the underlying difficulties of an alliance still struggling to find a stable balance.

The tone of the rally was often heated. Conte warned of risks to democracy, even invoking a return to the “Ancien Régime,” while Schlein argued that the reform “does not improve the justice system” and could weaken judicial independence. These are strong claims, which seem to rely more on emotional mobilization than on a detailed discussion of the proposed changes.

The stated goal is twofold: to win the referendum and to lay the groundwork for a future governing alternative. Yet this is precisely where the greatest uncertainties emerge. The same forces now united around the “No” campaign have come off weeks marked by tensions and coordination difficulties in Parliament, with joint initiatives often faltering or being scaled back.

In this context, the rally looks more like an attempt to patch things up than a genuine turning point. The impression is that the opposition is still searching for an equilibrium among different leaderships, strategies that do not always align, and political visions that struggle to translate into a shared project.

The referendum, scheduled for March 22–23, therefore represents not only a challenge on the substance of the reform, but also a test of credibility for a center-left coalition that aspires to govern but has yet to demonstrate it can truly move in the same direction.

Klevis Gjoka