“Dear Beppe, I must unfortunately point out that your note of the 5th of this month contains serious inaccuracies and evident distortions regarding the role and powers of the Guarantor.” This is how the letter begins – published by the online editions of Corriere della Sera and Repubblica – with which Joseph Conte responded in recent days to the outcry from Beppe Grillo.
A letter whose heart is probably the passage in which the M5S president notes that «no preclusion can be imposed on the deliberative power of the assembly on any of the issues mentioned above, nor can your power of veto, as you also write, be extended generically to ‘further issues that may emerge and/or result from the consultation among members’».
‘High’ issues to which is added – both issues had already emerged yesterday in an unofficial form – a more ‘concrete’ consideration, where Conte recalls that «these statements are completely incompatible with the obligations you specifically assumed towards the Movement with reference to both the guarantee and the advertising and communication contracts: this obliges me to evaluate possible initiatives aimed at suspending the execution of the services to be performed by the Movement deriving from the surety, and the withdrawal from the advertising and communication contracts».
«The protection of the fundamental values of the political action of the movement and the power of authentic, non-questionable interpretation of the statutory provisions – I do not want to discuss here the legitimacy and the concrete legal relevance of such a high-sounding provision – are resolved in a moral suasion, but certainly do not extend to the exercise of a supposed right of veto or even to the inhibition of assembly consultation on one or more issues of the life of the Movement», observes Conte who adds: «An insurmountable obstacle to this vision of yours is the democratic principle on which every exercise of political associative activity is based. This is a fundamental principle of our legal system, regardless of specific statutory provisions, which applies to all associative bodies, even more so to political associations, and which attributes a ‘sovereign’ power to the Assembly of members.. Moreover, these principles are well recalled, if there was any need, also in our Statute which, when defining the essential “purposes” of the Movement, provides: ‘a) The Association guarantees the widest space for democratic debate and the most intense methods of exchanging ideas, opinions and evaluations among its Members. The Association also intends to maintain a constant dialogue with civil society and with groups, associations, variously representative bodies, even those not registered with the Association itself, in order to encourage the development and collection of ideas, projects, suggestions, useful for enriching its political, social and cultural initiatives and for improving society and the living conditions of citizens.’
Conte also adds in the letter the passage from the Statute which states: «b) The Association recognizes all Members, in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of Principles and Values, of this Statute, of the Regulations and of the Code of Ethics and in particular through the instrument of the Network, an effective role in directing and determining the fundamental choices for the political activity of the Association» (thus art. 2.2, letter a), of the Statute)».
«As for the impossibility of opening a deliberative debate on the founding principles of the 5 Star Movement, I remind you – he observes again – that no statutory provision is exempt from possible modifications and/or revisions by the assembly; the Charter of principles and values itself is abstractly modifiable (art. 10, letter h, of the Statute); just as the statute provides for the possibility of modifying the symbol (art. 13, letter a, of the Statute). As for the name, there are no specific provisions that prevent its modification, thus subjecting such an eventuality to the ordinary rules of statutory revision. Finally, the rule of the limit of the double mandate is contained in the Code of Ethics (in itself removed from your power of authentic interpretation), which can also be modified via online consultation (art. 17, letter a, of the Statute).
“Finally, I would like to point out that your repeated public statements are giving credit to the public opinion to a ‘dominical’ conception of the Movement, considering that a single person, however deserving he may be the ‘founder’, claims to compress the deliberative debate within the association, blatantly contrasting the fundamental value that inspired the birth and development of the Movement itself: the democratic principle and the free participation of citizens in decision-making processes”, warns Conte.
«This conduct of yours, which is fueling the public debate with related hints of future legal disputes and potential splits, risks tarnishing the energy and enthusiasm that this constituent process is releasing, with the result of compromising the efforts that an entire Community is carrying out to relaunch, with strength and determination, the political action of the Movement, also involving supporters who are not yet registered”, warns the M5s president who adds this post scriptum, reported in the version on Corriere.it: “I am also forwarding this note of mine to the Guarantee Committee, given that one of its Members has just publicly invited you to make full use of your ‘statutory powers'”.