ROMA Without the surname Casaleggio, with the face of Giuseppe Conte and with Beppe Grillo “arbiter” of the new course: after an excruciating wait the new 5 Star Movement is born. The former premier and Davide Casaleggio sign a tiring agreement, “facilitated” by the intervention of the Privacy Guarantor: the first undertakes to “honor the debts” towards the Rousseau Association, the second formalizes the delivery of the data of the members.
The M5S «strengthened by its roots, enters a new history. June marks the beginning of our ‘second time’, Conte rejoices, already giving a first timing: by the end of the month, on a new platform, members will be able to vote on the Statute, the Charter of values and the new leader.
In short, the “reign” of the People’s Advocate begins with the hypothesis, among other things, of his entry into the Chamber at the supplementary next autumn. Room where Rocco Casalino will also settle, one of the main trait d’union between the old and the new Movement. But there will be no Casaleggio brand.
«With pain I will unsubscribe from M5S as many have decided to do in recent months. This is no longer the Movement and I am sure not even my father would have recognized it anymore », is the farewell to the poison sculpted by Casaleggio on his blog. The financial terms of the agreement are unknown.
Conte and Rousseau would have closed, according to some rumors, at a figure of around 250 thousand euros, to be paid in a certain period of time by the new Movement to which the elected members owe, monthly, one thousand euros. The Rousseau platform will be replaced by that provided, in all probability, by Isa srl, a company based in Viterbo. It will be a technical platform, as Conte had announced by presenting a Movement that, at least on the outside, could be more party-based, with a physical headquarters (in Rome, a stone’s throw from Montecitorio), secretariat and ad hoc training school.
The agreement could placate the parliamentary groups, increasingly similar to a minefield and in which intolerance towards the Draghi government is growing. The latest decree, the one on recruiting for the PA, did not like many: there are no adequate guarantees on the legality of hiring, is the mantra that circulates among the discontented. And even the first steps of the Minister for Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani do not like many. This and forthcoming reforms will be discussed at a crucial joint assembly on Thursday. One above all, the one on justice.
But the discontent, in the coming weeks, could grow and lead to new outflows, with two direct factors: the arrival of the blank semester and Conte’s choices on the exceptions to the second term. And it is a bad mood that intersects with those, especially local ones, regarding the alliance with the Democratic Party. The Pact for Naples has not resolved all the knots. And even Goffredo Bettini, one of the ideologues of the Pd-M5S alliance, today warns: “The time for clarity has come between us.” And Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, behind the scenes weaver of M5S 2.0, warns the elected officials: «Now more than ever we have to team up, involving everyone. With Giuseppe Conte we can relaunch the Movement, now we have to support it and secure its leadership ».
On his side, the former premier has a popularity that goes beyond the traditional boundaries of the M5S. In less than an hour the post on Fb in which Conte announces the agreement collects over 25 thousand likes. “It is time to be realistic but also to work to ‘achieve the impossible’, is the first claim launched by the former premier. On the other hand, Casaleggio promises that Rousseau’s path will continue. It could lead to a new party of grillina “keepers of orthodoxy”. While the other great ex, Alessandro Di Battista, for now is not unbalanced, if not to marry the Palestinian cause by participating in today’s demonstration in Rome.