Phase 2 of the M5S kicks off, more poison on the constituent. The spectre of a split

Since midnight, the constituent process of the Five Star Movement has closed its first phase, that of collecting proposals. There are over 22,000 of them and they have been 'clustered' under twenty headings, which will then be skimmed down to twelve. In the coming days, in fact, the members/activists who will participate in the second stage of the deliberative debate will be drawn by lot, which will delve into the discussion topics that have received the most approval. "We are realising a true participatory and deliberative process, in which we are all involved and in which we are all protagonists. A process that aims to ensure the widest and most effective democratic participation,' the M5S claims on its official website.

The cards announced by Beppe Grillo, however, tell a different story. "I am still waiting for the answers to the questions sent" to Giuseppe Conte, Grillo wrote in fact just two days ago, recalling the questions all aimed at contesting the regular constitution of the assembly and the betrayal of the principles to which the Movement owes its identity and founding values. The former comedian and the lawyer have never liked each other and the month of August has uncovered the crisis with Grillo adamant - so much so as to announce legal battles - on the No to the modification of the party symbol and the abolition of the two-mandate limit.

A wall that activists, members and followers of Conti's faith want to break down, ready to do battle even over the €300,000 a year consultancy contract that the Movement pays to Grillo. This is a recurring theme among the proposals gathered in the first phase of the Pentastellata constituent. There is certainly a clash between two opposing political visions. But there is above all a clash of power, with the two - with due distinctions - wanting to guarantee themselves control of the party. And it is not by chance, as has often happened before, that to flank one or the other of the contenders a return to the field of Alessandro Di Battista is evoked, a name capable of moving, and a lot, the base. Intercepted a couple of weeks ago in Rome in conversation with Grillo's advisor and spokesperson, Nina Monti, the person concerned, however, shrugged his shoulders in annoyance, ruling out any involvement ('I am not interested in the internal affairs of a party that I left three years ago for political reasons').

Internal issues that the former dauphin and former political leader of the 5 stars, Luigi Di Maio, sums up with 'there is nothing political' in the M5S internal clash. "It is only a power clash between Giuseppe Conte and Beppe Grillo. The issue is not political, but is all related to the Statute because both Conte and Grillo think the same way, for example, on the alliance with the PD.' Blame both. The assembly called by Conte is in fact, for Di Maio, a showdown 'from which there is no turning back'. The legal clash - then - will be a 'daily drip-feed that will make the Movement lose votes', he finally predicts that if Conte and Grillo go their separate ways 'they will halve the consensus: they have more votes together than alone and in any case the balance will be negative'. And the spectre of a split in the Five Stars - as the end of the reform process approaches with the convening of the plenary at the beginning of November - is becoming more and more concrete.