The M5S and the specter of abstention. There is a fear of a step backwards by Conte

What was a fear that circulated among the elected members of the M5s is confirmed in the words of the leader of the Movement: “If the path taken up to this point is called into question, I will draw the consequences. As it should be”. Words inspired by the specter of abstention that has been hovering over the meeting of 23 and 24 November for days, the culmination of the process set in motion by Giuseppe Conte three months ago.

A specter that raises concern among parliamentarians about what could happen if this abstention exceeds the warning levels at the time of the vote. A fear, it is explained, linked to an “underground work” that the “old Grillina guard” is allegedly doing to “sabotage the vote”.

In short, “someone is playing dirty by running an underground campaign for not voting. In the face of one, one is worth one”. A campaign that would aim to anesthetize the entire community and which could invalidate or direct the vote on issues in which failure to reach the quorum would mark a political distinction which, as explained by M5s sources in the Chamber, “could hardly see Conte as an interpreter again” .

This is also why the M5s president made an appeal to the base of the Movement: “I want to make an appeal: from the 21st to the 24th you will have the opportunity to vote and decide the future of the five stars, all that remains is to vote”. In particular, if at the time of the vote in the meeting it emerged that the same prerogatives as the guarantor remained, a question of incompatibility would arise. But, along with the role of the guarantor, the powers of the president themselves are in question.

“We are going through a new phase, we must renew ourselves and we cannot do it without listening to the base and its needs. There are many questions that concern the powers of the undersigned, I am in favor”, underlines Conte who wants to put an end to the season of ‘ wow. “After having assumed government responsibilities, we can no longer propose the logic of vaffa. Solutions to improve the quality of life of citizens must prevail”, adds Conte.

“This does not mean that we will be more accommodating. Indeed, we will be more intransigent than ever, against corruption, conflict of interest, differentiated autonomy. On the aspects that have fallen within the scope of this process, our definition of identity, the our position, it is right that members are called to vote and decide. We need to re-oxygenate.”

Fears, those that circulate among star deputies and senators, have just been mitigated by the electoral transition in Umbria and Emilia-Romagna, with the victory of the candidates supported by the 5 Star Movement. Conte complimented Stefania Proietti and Michele De Pascale, who he called on the phone a few minutes after the victory was certified. However, the Movement’s results in the regions remain below expectations.

Weakness in the territories is an ancient theme of the Five Star Movement. For this reason, President Conte has put in place around 400 territorial committees in the last year and a half. A necessary condition to transform the Five Star movement from an opinion movement to a movement rooted in the territory and with efficient transmission channels between local and national levels.

This is a point that brings us back to the theme of the Constituent Assembly given that this transformation is foreseen in the passage concerning the organisation. What is not up for discussion is the ‘no’ to Matteo Renzi. Today the leader of Italia Viva reported the “own goal” represented by the decision to keep Iv out of the perimeter of the center-left in Liguria, distancing himself from the Democratic Party which had instead opened up to the former prime minister.

For the Five Star Movement, however, there was “no separation from the Democratic Party”, as a leader of the Movement says: “Renzi today claimed his victory despite having achieved nothing”. The plan behind the words of the former scrap dealer is, for the Five Star Movement, “to make a mess in the area to present the symbol to the politicians. For us it is not feasible. A local administrator of Italia Viva can also be a good administrator, it is Renzi who is repellent for any voter”, comments an M5s deputy.