Spinelli acknowledged her election, L’Altra Europa overwhelmed by controversies

Barbara Spinelli has decided to be a MEP at last, and will sit on GUE seats together with the others elected with Lista Tsipras, Curzio Maltese and Eleonora Forenza from Rifondazione comunista. Spinelli, who had announced during the electoral campaign she was just a ‘guarantor’ for the list, wrote in a letter that “pacts are finalised with the will of at least two parties, and electors did not accept the pact I proposed – they gave me over 78,000 preferences,” then they would feel “betrayed” if their will was ignored.

Spinelli said she would fight in the new European Parliament “for a true war against the ideology of austerity and of the so-called ‘expansive precariousness’, against corruption and against Mafia’s threats in Italy; a war in favour of citizens’ rights; for the realization of a federal Europe with authentic and democratic powers; this Europe hasn’t been able to fulfil its duties, because of its management, given to governments in a deadly balance between national powers and powerless people.”

Still, the decision has stirred conflicting reactions among L’Altra Europa, with its supporters divided in two fronts: some considered this “the right thing to do” – given that Alexis Tsipras has personally asked Spinelli to become a MEP – while others said this could compromise the journey of Unità a Sinistra, accusing the writer of breaching the agreements and her role as guarantor. The angriest of them all, the no-longer-candidate Marco Furfaro (SEL), who’s not going to become a MEP. Spinelli decided to accept her election in the Centre District, where he was the second as per preferences received. “My natural constituency, my city, is Rome. There I received most of the preferences,” wrote Spinelli. On his side, Furfaro wrote in a blog he was treated like “cannon fodder” – he said the decision “wasn’t about me, it was about a political process, a community, a hope,” and that decision “was seized, it has been taken behind unknown doors, in a small, protected world, according to a ‘proprietary’ reasoning.” “There’s something inhuman in this,” said Furfaro, and talking to L’Altra Europa supporters, he continued “The Left is something beautiful, not the thing they’ve seen these days,” the left “is not represented by a single person, it’s not me, it’s all about them, our electors. And we will build it together again.”

Things are getting harder and harder for Sinistra e Libertà (SEL), with a harsh discussion between those supporting the path of Unità della Sinistra and those willing to enter the Democratic Party instead. Nichi Vendola refused to comment the specific episode, saying “too many words have been already said about it.” Talking about the future of SEL, the Governor of Puglia said “I think SEL does not want to die into the Democratic Party, nor to go towards the demagogic or populist demagogic radicalism,” given that “it was born with a basic mission: rebuilding the left,” because “you need the left if you want to build a centre-left” and “the left has had its experience with L’Altra Europa, coming from the consideration that part of the reformism contributed to part of the Austerity policies.” “I do think this judgement hasn’t disappeared,” added Vendola. Does it mean SEL will be part of Lista Tsipras in the future? Who knows. Still, Spinelli addressed directly SEL supporters, saying she counts “not only on their support for the List but also on their unchanged participation to the initial project, which aims at aggregating forces (from the left, disappointed by the present representative democracy, composed of migrants of abstention) to create an alternative to the current centre-left and wide agreements.”

Not only SEL is protesting, though, and controversies flow into L’Altra Europa. Spinelli is supported by other two guarantors, Guido Viale and Luciano Gallino (but not Marco Revelli and Argiris Panagopulos, who hasn’t commented yet), and the Head of Rifondazione Comunista, Paolo Ferrero. The latter, expressing his solidarity to the writer for the attacks she received, especially online, said L’Altra Europa is “a top-down list” but “the fame of someone boosted the activation of a participation and approval wider than ‘normal’ parties’ borders.” Ferrero continued saying “this must be changed,” we need “an Italian Syriza” with “a completely different method: full democracy and participation.”