by Monika Guerzoni
The Prime Minister recalled the Palazzo Chigi because of the tensions in the government, both with the 5 stars (with the anger of Conte because of the calls between Draghi and Grillo) and with the league. Palazzo Chigi: Grillo never asked to remove Conte. And the co-founder of the movement: «Caz … you on me and him, I exploited». Former Prime Minister for an hour in conversation with the President of the Republic of Mattarella
FROM OUR MAIL
MADRID — Dinner at the Prado Museum with the leaders of NATO countries, and then Mario Draghi will return to Rome from Madrid a day early tonight.
The summit of the Atlantic Alliance in the Spanish capital, where the security strategy of the West will be decided in the presence of Biden, Macron, Scholz and the leaders of the European Union, will continue without the Italian Prime Minister, who has been recalled to the Palazzo Chigi an important one Council of Ministers on the (highly anticipated) cut in bills.
This is the official statement, but it is hard to overlook the tension in the government that is on the brink of rupture.
“The government is not falling,” Draghi said in Madrid in the afternoon.
But Giuseppe Conte is furious – to the point that he went to the Quirinale for an hour to talk to Sergio Mattarella – because he continues to suspect Draghi really asked for Grillo’s head.
A fact that Presidency sources flatly deny: the prime minister – they explain – never told or asked Beppe Grillo to remove Giuseppe Conte from the M5S.
And the co-founder of the 5 Stars seems to agree with him (opening up a whole internal front to the 5 Stars): “Every time I’m taken advantage of and they tell bullshit about me and about Draghi…” a Grillo would have said this morning, some loyal strong regrets as reported by AdnKronos.
And then there’s the league tempted to get out of the majority before the M5S does.
That is the (sensitive) situation the former ECB chief will find when he returns to Rome on Thursday. A situation that Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio puts it this way: “While the Italian government has been engaged in important international summits for days, it is feeding tensions with surreal debates and declarations that clearly threaten the strength of the executive branch. This dynamic only risks weakening Italy’s credibility, blurring our achievement of key targets like the gas price cap and losing PNRR funds. The interest of our country should come first».
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Conte’s words and the Draghi-Grillo calls: what happened
The story, which blew up tensions between Draghi and Conte, began with the words of sociologist Domenico De Masi, who told Fatto Quotidiano: “Grillo told me that Mario Draghi asked him to remove Giuseppe Conte from the M5s , because he was insufficient.” According to De Masi, Grillo’s own relationship with Conte would be “contradictory, as I decipher it. I think Beppe is afraid of losing the movement, his political son ».
On Wednesday morning, June 29, Grillo only replied to reporters who asked about those phone calls with Draghi after he left the Hotel Forum in Rome where he was staying: “Hide up, cover up the truth with your stories”.
On the afternoon of June 29, Giuseppe Conte cracked down on the prime minister. “I want to clarify that Grillo told me about these phone calls,” said the leader of the 5 stars. “I find it genuinely serious that a technical prime minister appointed by us is interfering in the life of political forces – who, by the way, support him.” Conte said he was “confused”. The former Prime Minister also said that the alleged phone calls between Draghi and Grillo “are a confirmation that the creation of a new group” by Luigi Di Maio, who has left the 5 stars, “and other similar initiatives respond to logical building manoeuvres”.
However, Conte confirmed that the 5-star support was out of the question for the executive: “Our attitude, which I have always defined as loyal, constructive, correct towards the government, does not change even in the face of episodes I consider so serious” .
After these words, Draghi, in response to reporters from Madrid, tried to defuse the controversy: “We talked to Conte a while ago,” he said, “we have started to provide clarity. I looked for him this morning, he called me back. We will hear from you tomorrow to see you soon. The government doesn’t risk anything ».
Tensions between the league and the government: what happened
The League has instead opened up a front of tensions in the majority – finding a side in the opposition of the Friars of Italy – over the jus scholae and over cannabis. Il Carroccio asked the Pd and M5S to withdraw the bills. After an urgent meeting of MEPs, the leader of the parliamentary group in the League chamber, Riccardo Molinari, said: “We have opened a political reflection in the League because we cannot continue like this.”
June 29, 2022 (change June 29, 2022 | 21:36)
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