A discount on the return of the severance pay, to reward former parliamentarians who have not been re-elected, but have remained faithful to the Movement. Compulsory recovery of credit, however, if necessary, against exiles, deputies and senators who changed sides during the last legislature, starting with Luigi Di Maio and his followers. The M5s leaders are working on a revision of the internal regulation, which governs the procedures for repaying part of the salary, the various special allowances received for parliamentary positions (presidents, deputies, quaestors, chamber secretaries) and, precisely, the precious salary at the end of the mandate. A draft with the changes to the study is already in the hands of the Guarantee Committee, made up of the former Speaker of the Chamber, Roberto Fico, the former Mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, and the former Senator Laura Bottici.
A reward amnesty for former faithful
For the 5-star MPs left out, because they are not re-candidates due to the limit of the two mandates, an amnesty is in fact envisaged, even if in via di Campo Marzio nobody agrees to define it like this: they will be asked to pay only 20% of the sum perceived, which in the past had to return almost entirely to the coffers of the Movement. We are talking about just over 40 thousand euros accrued at the end of the term, double for those who have made two, that is almost all outgoing. On balance, to get in order it will be enough to pay 8 thousand or 16 thousand euros, depending on the stay in Parliament. The rest of the transfer collected by Montecitorio or Palazzo Madama will remain in their pockets. Historical faces of the Movement will benefit from it, such as Fico himself, Paola Taverna or Vito Crimi, the latter, however, already arranged by Conte with a consultancy contract of 70 thousand euros a year, by virtue of their experience. “On the one hand there is the desire to reward those who have been loyal and who have given their contribution to the cause of the Movement until the end – explains a source who follows the work of the Guarantee Committee – on the other there is the awareness that in this way there are more chances of obtaining restitution”.
Open warfare with the exiles
Very different speech for those who have “betrayed”, deputies and senators with whom there are no longer political nor personal ties. According to the draft of the new regulation, they will be called upon to disburse the severance pay on the basis of the rules in force up to now: it means having to repay almost 30 thousand euros for a term, double in the case of 10 years in Parliament. A blow for those who are trying to restart their lives outside the institutions in recent weeks. “Recovery actions” are explicitly hypothesized, thus preparing the ground for legal actions in the event of no response to the payment request. A perspective that could fall to Di Maio, as well as all members of Civic Commitment, from Laura Castelli to Vincenzo Spadafora, from Manlio Di Stefano to Lucia Azzolina. But also the defectors of the first hour, such as the former commander Gregorio De Falco or the former senators Paola Nugnes and Elena Fattori. The Movement, the political force that brought them to Parliament, will go to them to cash in. Difficult for those directly involved to accept of their own free will to pay the requested sum. Equally complicated to think that a judge can force them to do so.