Di Maio says M5S will sue Freemason candidates

(ANSA) - Rome, February 16 - 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Di Maio said Friday that the anti-establishment group will take legal action against three parliament candidates it has withdrawn its backing of because they failed to reveal links to the Freemasons.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".