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ROME. “Now it is an open war.” This is the message that clogs the chats of M5S parliamentarians as soon as the email from Davide Casaleggio, sent to more than one hundred thousand subscribers of the Rousseau platform, appears in their inbox. Apparently it serves to announce that, due to the “serious delays” of several elected deputies, the association of the same name that manages the digital infrastructure at the service of the M5S, and chaired by Casaleggio jr, is forced “to progressively reduce various services and instruments whose operating expenses, in the absence of expected income, are no longer sustainable ”.
In reality, the email is a clear message that the entrepreneur, son of M5S co-founder Gianroberto, intends to punch MPs who have been calling for weeks to withdraw the platform in the name of direct control of the software by elected officials. It does so by completely renouncing diplomacy, highlighting the internal laceration of the Movement, using a method that parliamentarians perceive as an authentic public pillory. In fact, scrolling through the text, Casaleggio jr invites subscribers to click on the link that contains the list of those who have not yet paid the fee of 300 euros per month that each elected member had agreed to pay. Those who have paid up to and including April 2020 are considered in order. In total, there are 48 defaulters out of 294 among deputies and senators, approximately one sixth. Among the best-known names are Senators Paola Taverna and Giulia Grillo (both still in December 2019). “I believe – writes the entrepreneur – that nobody should be above the rules that we have set”.
The weather on the M5S is very bad. Although the hypotheses of splits persistently reappear, the request to convene the States General continues to fall on deaf ears. But, as an authorized M5S source explains, before starting the counter-offensive, Casaleggio wanted the go-ahead from the guarantor Beppe Grillo. He reported to Regent Vito Crimi and former political leader Luigi Di Maio. In short, says the founder’s son, if Rousseau passes into the hands of the parliamentarians “it is the end of my father’s dream, one is worth one. We will be like everyone else.
A concept that is not expressed too differently in email, hoping that “whoever has the responsibility of enforcing the rules will exercise it with justice and fairness.” If the massive purge is going to be a massive purge, it will be: “I promised that I would maintain the project of participation and direct democracy that my father dreamed of and I will carry it out with all my might.” Now it is up to parliamentarians to take the next step. If they have the courage to follow the threats to leave the M5S if Casaleggio does not step aside. The war is just beginning.
