Elly Schlein said on Saturday 18 October, at the Democratic Party’s national assembly, that she is ready to run for the premiership, “with or without primaries”. ANSA reported the line from the Nuvola hall in Rome. It is a party statement, not a candidacy filed for an election and not an appointment to Palazzo Chigi.

The assembly had been called to extend her term as secretary, which would otherwise have ended in March 2027, in mid-campaign. The statute change passed unanimously. Schlein recalled that she had been given six months of political life and that she is the first woman secretary of the PD to see her term out.

The leadership then put a motion: if there are primaries, the PD goes only with Schlein. The vote: 578 yes, 3 no, 26 abstentions. The reformists, through Lorenzo Guerini, said support for her in primaries was not in question, but they abstained on the text. Senator Filippo Sensi wrote: unity yes, unanimity no. Giorgio Gori had asked for more names. The motion closes that, inside the party, not in the country.

The “with or without” is also a message to Giuseppe Conte. The Five Star Movement wants coalition primaries. Schlein prefers, ANSA said, that the leader come from the strongest party. Who faces Giorgia Meloni is not for the PD alone to decide. The alliance remains to be negotiated, including with Iv, she added: a mile left, 21 economic points already written together, everyone is needed, not some.

She rejected the idea of a “federator” of broad understandings: “never again broad understandings”, she said, “we are here to win with our progressive alliance”. Those are hall words, not a government programme. “We will be the surprise”, she added, speaking of being a woman, 40, “free and not exactly conforming”.

Italy is not in a formal election campaign because of this sentence. Coalition primaries, if they happen, need the allies’ agreement. Until then Schlein has extended her term and put her name on the door, inside the party.

Image: DellaGherardesca, Palazzo Chigi, Rome, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; the government seat, not the PD assembly at the Nuvola on 18 October 2026.

Sources consulted: Schlein puts herself forward for Palazzo Chigi, with or without primaries - ANSA; Schlein makes her run official: I am the premier candidate with or without primaries - la Repubblica.