M5S, the online vote: eliminated the guarantor, alliances with programme agreement and stop to the two-term limit. Grillo attacks: from Franciscans to Jesuits

The first question to be resolved was the enfranchisement of Beppe Grillo, who not surprisingly has opposed the constituent path from the beginning. The members between the 'elimination of the role of the Guarantor' and its downsizing (from an honorary title only to a term of office for life lasting 'for a period of four years renewable for no more than two consecutive terms'). They opted for elimination. The yes vote for the elimination of the role of the guarantor was 63%, the no vote 29%. The assembly of M5s members decided that the functions of the role of the guarantor should be entrusted to a specially elected collegiate body (39%), and not to the Guarantee Committee (37%).

Of the much-discussed name and symbol change, there was actually no trace in the questions submitted to the members. In the proposed revision of the statute put forward, the national council would decide on the change of the logo 'on the proposal of the President or the Guarantor'. And 78.65% of voters among the registered members of the 5 Star Movement gave the go-ahead for a possible change to the symbol on the proposal of the president. Translated: Conte will also be able to propose it on his own and against Grillo's will. But Conte has no interest in changing the historical mark: he will only do so if at the end of the constituent process Grillo decides to sue for ownership of the symbol.

The question of political positioning is the one that will have the most impact on relations with the PD: the members had to choose between 'Declaring themselves progressive in the light of our Charter of Principles and Values', evidently the choice the leader is pushing for, and 'Declaring no positioning and maintaining the historical distance from the right and the left'. The latter solution would have put an end to any hypothesis of a broad camp. The first option passed, as did the yes to alliances, but 'conditional on certain factors to be attached to the Code of Ethics' . Specifically, 'to the sharing of a "precise programmatic agreement"'.

Members were also asked whether or not they wanted to change the two-term limit. Options to choose from in the event of a change included extending the ceiling to three terms of office; allowing, as an exception to the two-term limit, the candidature for regional president or mayor; and allowing the possibility of standing for re-election after observing a minimum break of five years at the end of the currently permitted elective terms.

By now Giuseppe Conte and Beppe Grillo no longer speak to each other, but it is around them that most of the Five Star galaxy is moving. Also because the Constituent Assembly has produced a polarising effect: either with one or the other. Since the exit of Luigi di Maio, who founded his own political force during the Draghi government, the face-symbol of the M5s has increasingly been that of Conte. In the M5s executive group, the deputy vice-president Paola Taverna is Conte: the former senator is the one in charge of weaving the web of local alliances. With the president also her deputies in the MovementMichele Gubitosa and Riccardo Ricciardi, both deputies, and Senator Mario Turco. Contiano doc the leader of the group in the Chamber Francesco Silvestri, as well as most of the parliamentarians. Close to Conte, but not without distinction, is the group leader in the Senate Stefano Patuanelli, who has always been a convinced supporter - more than the president - of the need for a wide field. Far from the grillini impulses of the first hour, and therefore more akin to the Conte's Movement, is the president of the Sardinia Region Alessandra Todde: she too is a sponsor of the need to invest in the wide field.

In the executive group, the former mayor of Rome Virginia Raggi, who is a member of the Movement's guarantee committee, the former minister Danilo Toninelli, of the M5s board of arbitrators, very active on social networks with attacks on Conte, and the treasurer Claudio Cominardi, are considered pro-Grillo. Among the parliamentarians who came to Grillo's defence was Senator Maria Domenica Castellone. The former mayor of Turin and now member of parliament Chiara Appendino was not sparing with critical remarks to Conte, but without tearing up.

While the former president of the Chamber Roberto Fico has maintained good relations with both President Conte and the founder, even though, unlike Grillo, he is in favour of abolishing the dual mandate constraint and shares the spirit of the M5s Constituent Assembly. Then there is a group of ex-5 stars who closely follow the dynamics of the Movement, such as the 11 who wrote a letter against Conte in August. Among them are former senators Nicola Morra and Elio Lannutti and former undersecretary Alessio Villarosa.