Four months after he had appointed the former prime minister as the future party leader, Grillo Conte has now de facto thrown out of the group. This decision divides the strongest group in the coalition alliance of Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
“Conte has neither a political vision nor management skills. He has neither organizational experience nor the ability to innovate,” Grillo criticized the ex-prime minister, who has been working on a statute to re-establish the movement for four months. Grillo, who has the function of “guarantor” and political strategist in the five-star movement, is resisting Conte’s plans to curtail his powers in the new grouping. Conte then accused Grillo of behaving in a tyrannical manner.
The 56-year-old lawyer Conte wanted to transform the “Cinque Stelle”, founded by Grillo in 2009 as an anti-system movement, into an established group with a statute, organs and a party leader – himself. On the other hand, he wanted to demote Grillo to a figurehead without special skills. However, Conte’s plan failed because of Grillo’s vehement resistance. In a posting published on Tuesday, the comedian from Genoa did not save with personal attacks against the ex-prime minister, who led two governments from June 2018 to last February with the support of the Cinque Stelle. Conte was unable to lead a party, argued Grillo.
Conte was offended. “Grillo’s words are not only a disappointment for me, they are, in my opinion, an insult to the whole five-star movement, which I appreciate because it consists of people who believe in certain ideals,” said Conte, according to media reports on Wednesday . His renovation project for the “Cinque Stelle” will not fail because of resistance from a single person. He enjoys the support of many figures in the Five Star Movement.
Grillo launched an online consultation to appoint a governing body to develop the group’s strategy by the 2023 parliamentary elections. The vote is to take place on the Rousseau platform, with whose operator, the IT entrepreneur Davide Casaleggio, Conte had fallen out. This call divides the movement. Because supporters of Conte demand that a vote should not be taken on a new management body, but on the statute developed by Conte.
The mayor of Turin, Chiara Appendino, a leading politician in the movement, was critical of Grillo. “I’m very bitter. I can only say that we lost a great opportunity. Conte could be the right person to start the movement again,” complained Appendino.
Given the political turmoil among the “Grillini”, the question arises of the stability of Prime Minister Draghi’s cabinet should the strongest ruling party crumble. The Social Democratic coalition partner of the Five Stars, the Democratic Party (PD), expressed concern about the impact of the political crisis in the Grillo movement on the stability of the Draghi cabinet. “Now is the time to unite, not to split,” said Social Democrat leader Enrico Letta. “Nobody is shaking the coalition,” was the prompt reaction from five-star circles.
