But unlike Dumas’ hero, the MEPs are not seeking vengeance. They want a road back to political relevance.
Time to go home
The first, and so far the only, PD lawmaker to have left Brussels is Matteo Ricci, who is contesting a local election on Sept. 28 and 29 in the Marche region in central Italy.
A PD bigwig and former mayor of Bari, Antonio Decaro, chair of the European Parliament’s environment and food safety committee, has announced he will run for the presidency of his native Puglia region in the fall.
If he wins the election, his party colleague Annalisa Corrado — a Schlein loyalist — is the favorite to take up his post as the head of the European Parliament’s powerful environment committee.
Other bigwigs, such as the former mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, and the ex-governor of Emilia-Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, are rumored to be trying to return to Rome as national MPs in the upcoming general election in 2027, according to multiple PD insiders.
It is also important to note that it is not only the Socialists who are pining for their homeland.