M5s between pride and anger: Conte invites with his head held high, Grillo accuses of personal enrichment

Pride and anger M5s. That of President Giuseppe Conte, who invites his men to "always move forward with their heads held high", and that of Beppe Grillo, who accuses his former traveling companions of having changed their skin: they wanted to put themselves at "service in the institutions to improve the lives of citizens" but now they are aiming for "personal enrichment". The social messages of the current and former leader arrived on the occasion of the birthday of the M5s, born 17 years ago on the day dedicated to Saint Francis, October 4th.

"Have you read? - wrote Conte - It's the same old thing. They attack us and try to discredit us every day, they point the finger at us from all sides". The order of arrival of the posts is clear: Conte did not intend to respond to Grillo, who showed up on social media an hour later. Perhaps, the M5s president's reaction was to Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, with whom he had a social back-and-forth. "An additional military expenditure of approximately 14 billion is madness," Conte wrote. And Crosetto, in reply: "Whoever attacks defense spending in a superficial and indiscriminate way affects personnel, work, businesses and the country's capacity for innovation." But there are also those who have read in that "they attack us and try to discredit us" a reference by Conte to the rise of the Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein a few days ago, who made it clear that at the program table "one is not worth one" because the Democratic Party has double the votes of the allies.

"This is not the case - the M5s said - it was simply a reminder of the fact that for 17 years the Movement has been a force that is not compatible with the apparatus and establishment. It continues to be annoying, to be inconvenient". To tell the truth, that's what Conte's post says. He speaks of "a community of courageous people, with strong and clear values. Who tread on the toes of the strong and untouchable few". In short, after days of fire, on this Saturday in which neither Schlein nor Conte made public interventions, the message that is being conveyed is: truce. Or at least let's try. Also because, in the M5s they saw in those sentences from Schlein more a reassuring message to his internal minority, which fears a surrender to Conte's positions on support for Ukraine, than a direct attack on the ally. The real comparison will take place at the program table. And there - is the reasoning - if we want to make the numbers count, the M5s will bring the polls that put citizens against sending weapons to Ukraine at 60%-70%. And the fact that that line is moved by two out of three components of the wide field will also have an impact: M5s and Avs. As far as Grillo is concerned, however, the only confrontation with the M5s is expected in court for the ownership of the symbol. Meanwhile, the former guarantor continues to hammer away. This time, he has put Sardinia and the so-called "poltronificio law" approved in 2021 by the center-right council led by Christian Solinas in his sights.

From the opposition, the M5s opposed it. Now Grillo points the finger at the Movement which, upon reaching the government of the Region, would not have canceled that law, but would have used it to appoint consultants and collaborators. Grillo "is moved by anger and spite" and "gives false information", the M5s Sardegna replied to him.