5-Star Movement (M5S) premier
candidate Luigi Di Maio said Friday that the anti-establishment
group will take legal action against three parliament candidates
it has withdrawn its backing of because they failed to reveal
links to the Freemasons.
"There are three candidates who lied to us," Di Maio said in
a video released on Facebook.
"They did not tell us they belonged to the Masons. But we
have not just expelled them from the M5S, we will report them
for damage to the image of the M5S too".
He added that the candidates will be asked to give up their
seats if they are elected.
The M5S's campaign for the March 4 general election has been
hit by the Freemasons case and a furore about a number of M5S
lawmakers who cheated on an internal movement pledge to pay part
of their salaries into a fund to finance small businesses.
Di Maio has stressed that the pledge cheats are only a
handful of "bad apples" who will be rooted out and has said that
the M5S elected officials had paid back over 23 million euros of
their salaries.
"Those who lied to me and to the voters will not get away
it," he said.
"As you can see in the polls, not only are they not hurting
us, but we are on the up.
"(PD leader Matteo) Renzi is losing (ground) and we are
gaining".
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