All the 5-star grits of Giuseppe Conte
What happens to the 5 Star Movement and what will Giuseppe Conte do? Gianfranco Polillo's comment
In the end, maybe the blackout will give the coup de grace to the hopes of the 5 stars? That interruption that will make the data of your system useless, neither more nor less as it happens every time you leave a PC, without having saved your work. And although this is more difficult today, following improvements in operating systems, in the past the event was traumatic. It happened, therefore, to have worked for hours and then lost all the work done, due to a simple interruption – a moment was enough – of power. Throwing everyone on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
These are images that come to mind when reading the quarrel between the MoVimento and Davide Casaleggio. There are 450 thousand euros at stake. The arrears required from the movement's spokesmen for past use of the network. That information infrastructure with a bombastic name – Rousseau – which was supposed to guarantee the transition from parliamentary democracy to direct democracy: where "one is worth one" and the boss, with a simple click, can decide the destinies of his world. Undoubtedly inexpensive system, compared to the complexity of traditional party organization (offices, officials, propaganda media and so on), but also less controllable by individual militants. Their name had also been stolen, turning them into activists. A hundred years back: Belgium 1916 the independence movement of the Flemings.
And so Giuseppe Conte, from a “people's advocate” is destined to transform himself into the simple lawyer of Beppe Grillo, to bring the son of the movement's cofounder – Gianroberto – to court in order to obtain control of that precious database. Without which the organizational memory of the movement is destined to be lost. "The life of the majority party in Parliament cannot be blocked due to the economic claim of a private individual who runs a website": this, according to the press, is the justification of the appeal. That if, if all goes well, between memoirs and stamped papers, it will require a definition time that is incompatible with the rhythms of politics.
And the first effects have already been seen. More than two months have passed since the resignation of Giuseppe Conte on January 26th. And the Movement is still an orphan. Directed by Vito Crimi, apparently. But in fact in the hands of Luigi Di Maio and Roberto Fico, with Beppe Grillo, pardon the Elevato, to act as a corifeo, as in an ancient Greek tragedy. To understand the difference, just look at the speed with which an "old" structure like that of the Democratic Party (one hundred years of history) has been able to react to its internal crisis. And how quickly. The fact is that Giuseppe Conte, before accepting the position of leader, wants to be sure that he is not in a sea of troubles. In the midst of a quarrelsome community beyond measure and without social roots. Being the administrative support structure in enemy hands.
In fact, Davide Casaleggio is not just a family heir. Although more than discreet on a political level, he never hid his dissent for the turn taken by the Movement. That his easy renunciation of his origins. That rapid transition from the barricades of "honesty, honesty, honesty" to the embarrassing hiring of Silvia Di Manno, the partner of Gianni Lemmetti, the councilor for the budget of the Municipality of Rome, at the Urban Planning offices of the Campidoglio. Easily discovered and forced to resign . But now the omelette was done. And it was followed by the abandonment of Gemma Guerrini, who landed, after a noble speech of denunciation, in the ranks of the mixed Capitoline group. To meet two other refugees: Maria Agnese Catini and Monica Montella. Result? Virginia Raggi , in the Capitol, no longer has a majority.
It is now a trickle that will increase if the timing of the passing of the baton in favor of Giuseppe Conte were to lengthen following the legal events. The main Italian parliamentary group – on this the people's advocate is right – has been beheaded. Before the crisis, a sort of political secretariat had been decided: by many seen as the definitive capitulation to the needs of the real politique. Other than a mild revolution, in the name of ecological transition. New flag, a little faded, of what remains of that story. But still a sign of life. The salvific expectations, placed in the figure of Giuseppe Conte, have instead frozen everything, leaving the staff of a command in the hands of Vito Crimi. That it is no longer such. And without which the same political direction can only degrade.
All that remains is to wait. Enrico Letta himself is embarrassed. He must meet the leaders of the movement. But he is unable to know to what extent Giuseppe Conte will be the right man. What will his actual role be, beyond the investiture of Beppe Grillo. Especially who will it represent? The unavailability of Rousseau, with his online vote, although manipulable, from this point of view, represents a difficult obstacle to overcome. The leader of any political party needs a legitimacy that derives from the forms of his own organization. In the case of the 5 stars, however, this scaffolding has failed and is difficult to replace with something different. And here then is that political crisis on the one hand and organizational crisis on the other risk merging, giving rise to a whole, which can represent a point of no return.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/tutte-le-grane-a-5-stelle-di-giuseppe-conte/ on Wed, 24 Mar 2021 09:05:28 +0000.