Italy’s former PM and head of the 5-Star Movement (M5S), Giuseppe Conte, praised the M5S measures while criticising PM Giorgia Meloni.
Hundreds of thousands of families lifted out of poverty thanks to M5S measures. This is what Istat writes in its annual report.
He contrasted the M5S measures with government measures, which he described as “state methadone.” Those who waged war on the poor used that term, he noted.
“We can see the results of this Government and its cuts: in 2023 poverty reached a historic record and exploded among employees, also due to the absence of the legal minimum wage.”
Conte also addressed Meloni directly in another of his posts on X social platform.
Dear Meloni, yesterday you said another of yours: for you it wouldn’t be a scam to have “Giorgia” written on the ballot even though you are not really a candidate to go to the European Parliament, while the scam was my Presidency of the Council.
The politician noted that the Prime Minister “still [hasn’t] changed our Constitution.” Moreover, he recalled that in a parliamentary democracy, the Prime Minister was chosen by the parliament “and therefore by the political forces that win the elections.”
“That’s how it was for me. And it was an absolutely democratic process. Furthermore, I remind you that the 5 Star Movement took 33% and presented me in advance to the voters as a potential member of the government team.”
He underscored that Meloni voted for Mario Monti as prime minister “after Draghi’s letter from Europe.”
Monti had never even been presented to the voters. Was that a “scam” of yours?
Conte also noted that voting directly for the prime minister was not a sufficient guarantee of democracy. At the end of his address, the M5S leader called on Meloni to “stop continuing to deceive Italians with the false narrative that with your reform we will have more democracy.”
“Democracies are based on the balance of powers and counter-powers. With your reform you have foreseen the powers, all in favor of the Premier. It’s exactly the opposite.”
Earlier, he presented a bill to strip ministers and parliamentarians of the right to stand for European elections. However, critics argued that he presented the initiative too late. There would not be enough time to pass such a law ahead of the European Parliament elections, they stated.
