M5s, Conte: reasons for Grillo's contract gone, relationship irreversibly broken

'Beppe Grillo is responsible for a counter-communication that breaks the grounds for a contractual collaboration'. This is how Giuseppe Conte announces his decision not to renew the €300,000 compensation to the founder of the 5 Star Movement. He does so in Bruno Vespa's new book 'Hitler and Mussolini. L'idillio fatale che sconvolse il mondo (e il ruolo centrale dell'Italia nella nuova Europa)' (Hitler and Mussolini. The fatal idyll that shocked the world (and Italy's central role in the new Europe), to be published on 30 October by Mondadori-Rai Libri. 'Grillo,' says Conte in Vespa's book, 'claimed the fee as guarantor even in the last letters he wrote to me. I have never accepted that he was paid for this function, which has an intrinsic moral value and is not compatible with any remuneration'.

'Something has cracked irreversibly'. This is how Giuseppe Conte responds to Bruno Vespa who asks if the relationship with Beppe Grillo has ended definitively. 'Humanly,' Conte told Vespa, 'I am very impressed by the way he behaves. Seeing him today so blatantly opposing a process of democratic participation that takes us back to Casaleggio's original ideals has saddened me greatly. Because, contrary to what the newspapers write, the clash is not personalistic (Grillo against Conte), but sees Grillo fighting against his own community'.

In the meantime, Conte is pulling straight ahead on the constituent assembly that could change the skin of the M5s: the assembly process aims to 'give the Movement some oxygen, relaunch our battles and give life to new proposals for the country', explains the former prime minister. And again: 'It will be the members who will decide whether and how to change the name and symbol'. The Pentastellata community is currently engaged in the second phase of the constituent process: that of deliberative debate to discuss and deepen the priority issues. From healthcare to the economy, from work to taxation, to justice and peace, the Movement's workhorse in foreign policy. And then the sore point: the issues related to the internal life of the 5-Star Movement, its organisation and structure, with the knots of the dual mandate limit, the name and symbol.

The constituent process is causing quite a stir in the Movement, with a heated clash between Grillo and Conte. The guarantor had in fact asked that certain pillars - such as the name, symbol and limit of the double mandate - not be questioned. While Conte wanted to leave the field open for discussion. Vitriolic exchanges of letters ensued, with mutual accusations and claims, which made the entire Pentastellist community tremble with the spectre of a paper-thin finale. The final assembly will be held on 23 and 24 November, until that date the games remain open (and twists are not excluded).