M5s, from Di Maio to Di Battista: after the vote the all against all of the former sodalists breaks out

The former magic circle attacks him, the elected officials armour him. In the aftermath of the European elections, which recorded a collapse for the M5s, Giuseppe Conte is grappling with a Movement tried and shaken by internal turmoil. The profound reflection announced while the ballot boxes were still hot, began with the meeting of the Pentastellati groups in the Chamber and Senate and will result in a constituent assembly between September and October. At stake will probably be rules, such as the two-term limit, but also political issues. Some even dream of changing the name and symbol to usher in a new beginning with Conte, but his entourage is holding back: 'This is definitely not the priority'.

The leader will be in the territories in the coming days to campaign for the ballots. 'We are charged up, we are moving forward. We are not closed for mourning,' is the quip from those close to him. In the post-electoral chaos, the former enfant prodige of the 5 stars, Luigi Di Maio, intervenes, according to whom Giuseppe Conte's main responsibility is that of 'having distorted the Movement, which today is an even more closed and vertically-oriented party than in the past. Conte has modelled it in his own image and likeness', 'without anyone lifting a finger. As for Grillo, he has 300 thousand good reasons to remain silent'.

The guarantor, Beppe Grillo, although invoked by many, continues not to intervene in the political debate: on social media he speaks of the 'hidden secrets that threaten peace', no mention of the ballot box. As for the other well-known face of the Movement of the first hour, Alessandro Di Battista, after having sentenced that at the basis of the collapse in the party's consensus there is 'a political problem', he in turn lashes out at Di Maio: 'He is one of those responsible for the distortion of the M5S. Until the day before yesterday everything was fine with him because he was a minister'. To which is added the lunge of Casaleggio jr who has gone so far as to call for the resignation of the leader of the Pentastellati and who explains that the movement 'has lost its identity' and with it the people who vote for it. Like him, who did not go to the polls 'because I did not find something on the ballot paper that I wanted to vote for'.

If the familiar faces of the original movement attack the leader, the hard core of the elected representatives in Parliament armour him. After Conte offered his 'willingness' to step aside, during the assembly of the groups (which broke off at one o'clock in the morning to continue over the next few days) many parliamentarians asked him to stay on: unthinkable a step backwards, the refrain in the assembly that resumed in the evening. The internal reflection, therefore, is destined to continue and to tackle various knots: limit of mandates, name and symbol, alliances and, who knows, perhaps even a re-discussion of the Movement's political pillars. One parliamentarian, for example, during the first round of the group meeting, is said to have urged, after so many years, to rethink certain 'no' votes, such as the one on waste-to-energy plants, while also evaluating new technologies.

'There is no trial of Giuseppe Conte, there is a general reflection that must be done all together,' urges former Chamber president Roberto Fico. Who - according to rumours - in a reorganisation at the top could become one of Conte's new vice-presidents. Barring a shake-up, for now the 'people's lawyer's' natural term of office would expire in 2025, then he could stand again or give way to new leadership. For the change at the top that will take place sooner or later, two women stand out in the list of names: Chiara Appendino and Virginia Raggi. For the time being, the former mayor of Turin has shied away: 'Leadership is not the issue, we need a real debate on the future'.