When Beppe Grillo dreamed of the parliamentarians drawn by lot

Once upon a time Beppe Grilloat the time Guarantor of the M5sfor which thedrawing by lottout court, of the parliamentarians, which returned to the fore today with fanfare for an initiative that was to a certain extent similar to the Vannaccia supporters – but on the other hand, only in relation to the assignment of the order in the list of candidates – was not a taboo at all.

It was 2018, when the comedian and founder of the Movement was chased by reporters in every one of his raids in the capital. “We select people by lot and put them in Parliament. It seems absurd, but think about it for a moment. The selection should be fair and representative of the country”, theorized Grillo, launching the idea of ​​a branch of the ‘citizens’ Parliament.

The model of the ancient Athenians

“The ancient Athenians randomly selected citizens to fill most of their political positions”, was the reasoning supporting the ‘crazy idea’ which, in his provocation, he claimed was not. Random draw? “It’s beautiful. They also do it in Bulgaria”, he replied to the journalists who besieged ‘his’ Forum hotel in Rome.

Not a new idea

The proposal to have Lady Luck choose, at least in part, the chosen ones is therefore not unique to today. For Grillo, the idea of ​​randomly selecting citizens and assigning them fixed-term positions to manage institutions based on specific requirements was suggestive for Grillo.

Direct democracy

Thus the truth would have been realized direct democracy abandoning the practice of parliamentarians. A mechanism like that of popular juries that works from time to time in the courts would have been recreated, eliminating the risk of careerism, lobbies and anything else the now former Guarantor of the M5s saw as smoke and mirrors, in a Parliament that wanted to “open like a can of tuna”.

The judgment on democracy

Since then a lot of water has passed under the bridge, Grillo is no longer the Guarantor of the Movement, but at the time he was pointing the way: “We must understand that democracy is outdated. What is democracy when less than 50% goes to vote. If you take 30% of the 50%, you have taken 15% – he stated in an interview with Ian Bremmer – Today it is the minorities who run the countries”.

The hypothesis of the parliamentary draw

“Democracy probably needs to be replaced with something else, perhaps with arandom draw. I think we could choose one of the two Houses of Parliament like this. Coincidentally. In a proportionate manner by age, sex, income, from the South, from the North, so that these people truly represent the country.”

Support in the M5s

Position later married in Italy by Grillino Gianluca Vaccaundersecretary of Cultural Heritage at the time, according to whom “the constantly growing abstentionism” was “a symptom of democratic tiredness” and of the “crisis of representation” which however “does not seem to coincide with a reduction in the will of citizens to participate in the institutional life of a country and of a community in general”.

Participation and transparency

In short, citizens are tired of electing, he said, but not of participating. The drawcould “guarantee transparency and impartiality in the appointment of members of collegial bodies that are particularly delicate and conditioned by clientelistic and consociational logics”.