The Italian Senate on Wednesday
voted not to accept the resignations of two Senators kicked out
of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) by its leader
Beppe Grillo.
The M5S was outvoted in its bid to accept the resignations
of Laura Bignami and Maria Mussini, whom Grillo expelled from
the party in March after they tendered their resignation as
Senators in solidarity with four former party members
who had been similarly ejected, that time for criticizing their
leader's tirade against Premier Matteo Renzi during talks to
discuss forming the government in February.
The incident has brought tensions within Italy's
second-biggest political force to a head amid accusations that
the movement is far from democratic.
On Wednesday M5S faithful were once again on the offensive,
this time against Parma's M5S Mayor Federico Pizzarotti, who has
been threatened with expulsion from the M5S for challenging
Grillo.
In a post on Grillo's blog titled The Unkept Promises of
Pizzarotti, M5S Bologna Councilor Max Bugani said he doesn't
"like coy people, especially when they're in the M5S".
Pizzarotti responded with a Facebook post in which he
singled out "those who spew rivers of bile and vitriol". Instead
"I'm making a revolution with a smile on my face".
The Parma mayor has been on thin ice with Grillo for
criticizing his resistance to compromise early last year, when
Grillo refused to enter deals with the traditional parties
after his movement captured around a quarter of the national
vote and held the balance of power in inconclusive elections.
The stance led to two months of deadlock that forced
unnatural allies in the centre-left and centre-right to form a
coalition.
Grillo justified the position, saying he wants to destroy
the established party system, which he blames for corruption and
Italy's recent economic decline.
Many predicted his movement was losing steam after coming
20% behind the Democratic Party (PD) of Renzi in May 25 European
elections, failing to upset the traditional party system as
other Euroskeptics did in France and Britain.
But last weekend, following a new tide of corruption probes
linked to the 2015 World's Fair in Milan and the
flood-protection system in Venice, the M5S did well in municipal
elections, snatching away the leftist stronghold of Livorno from
the PD.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
