Bring down the government or disown your history and implode. These are the two dangers which the 5 Star Movement is called to juggle. Today, Monday 18 February, between 10 and 19, militants registered on the Rousseau platform are called to vote on the authorization to proceed against the interior minister and deputy premier, Matteo Salvini, accused of kidnapping by the magistrates for having left 177 migrants at sea on the ship Diciotti.
There is no reassuring outcome for pentastellati. If the fate of the Northern League leader will be entrusted to the judges, the history of the yellow-green majority could be interrupted. On the other hand, if not the Movement would go against its own history, granting Salvini one of the privileges that the grillini have always considered illegitimate. This would probably mean losing more votes and accelerating the decline in consensus recorded by polls in recent months.
The grillini try to get out of the way by writing on the blog of the Stars that "It's not your usual immunity vote. The art deals with those cases. 68 of the Constitution, and on those the M5S has always been and is immovable: no immunity, no unquestionability. This is a different case: we are talking about art. 96 of the Constitution. It is an unprecedented case because never in the past has the judiciary asked Parliament to authorize a trial for a minister who had acted in the exercise of his duties".
The question of the online consultation reads: “Did the delay in the disembarkation of the Diciotti ship, to redistribute migrants in the various European countries, take place for the protection of an interest of the State? – Yes, then deny permission to proceed – No, then grant permission to proceed”.
The wording aroused the irony of Beppe Grillo, who tweeted:
If you vote Yes, it means No
If you vote No it means Yes
We are between comma 22 and Procrustes syndrome!— Beppe Grillo (@beppe_grillo) 17 February 2019
From the movement they point out that the question is the same one that the senators will find themselves facing.
Also today, another highlight is expected: the assembly of M5S parliamentarians with the political leader to discuss the new organization of the 5 Stars, with the birth of a sort of enlarged directorate that lightens the tasks of the leader and the possible opening to civic lists in the area.
