“Everyone talks about chaos and storm in Rome, but it's only the beginning”. Who knows if, after expressing himself in such a reckless way, the ineffable aspiring premier of the Five Stars, Luigi Di Maio, realized the own goal that the unequivocal comedy of his words scored in the grillini goal. The desperate attempt by the vice president of the Chamber was evidently to justify the unjustifiable and to reduce the crisis of the Giunta Raggi in Rome, asking for understanding for administrators still in the running-in phase. But it wasn't a good idea, because the remedy was worse than the disease. If it is "only the beginning", what other calamities can the Romans expect after the tribulations of the first 70 days of the Giunta Raggi?
The rain of excellent resignations that submerged Mayor Raggi to tears is certainly sensational but it is not unexpected. And not only because he had immediately understood that administrative amateurishness was equal to demagoguery and electoral ambiguity and not even because grillina transparency was just a sailor's promise.
The key point of the repeated disbanding of Raggi and his Giunta is very simple, it has a very clear origin since the electoral campaign and can be summed up in a single question: mayor Raggi replies to the citizens of Rome or to Beppe Grillo and the Directory of the Five Movement Stars? Who signed the contract with the Five Stars which requires Grillo's staff to be subjected to the gauntlet for all important administrative acts, including appointments? Now the contradictions are coming home to roost and if Rome is the stress test on the grillini's national government capacity, the game risks ending prematurely. "It's only the beginning".
At the root of all Raggi's troubles is its limited sovereignty which fatally pushes it either to bow its head before the Directory or to wear itself out in a tug of war with a very uncertain outcome.
Those who maintain that the Democratic Party, which in Rome has serious responsibilities towards the city, must not maramaldeggiarono about the own goals of Raggi and M5S are absolutely right, but this is not the line of behavior that Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has taken who, as in the referendum, he has lowered his tone and is keeping a respectful distance from the grillino spin in the capital. It may be a coincidence, but the latest polls reveal that the Democratic Party has overtaken M5S: 32,6% against 30,3%, which is worth what it's worth but which is, in its own way, indicative of how people's moods can change rapidly.
Staying under wraps and waiting for the Giunta Raggi and the Movimento 5 Stelle to simmer can be a winning tactic for those who immediately understood that the most insidious opponents of the grillini are really them: the grillini. Other than "powers that be".
