In via di Campo Marzio 46, in the headquarters of the Movimento 5 stelle, in Rome, these are hectic hours. Hot. Despite the air conditioning on, set at 25 degrees, you sweat. You write and sweat, while someone thinks about dinner. On the table of the communication office of Giuseppe Conte the draft of a long confidential note, jealously guarded by a few. An ultimatum to the government led by Mario Draghi or a farewell.
This will all depend on how the long-awaited face-to-face tomorrow will go between Conte and Draghi who live an increasingly difficult, rough relationship. Political battles are just the background to a skewed story from the start. From that passage of the bell that the people’s advocate never digested. The men trusted by the political leader of the Movement have been working there for days, nights. Like Thursday, when the lights were still on at half past midnight. “We have to try to understand what will happen on Monday,” they say.
Giuseppe Conte is sitting there. He is worried about the situation. He reflects, the jacket rests carefully on the back of the chair. He listens. Speaking is Rocco Casalino, trying to convince him to leave the majority as soon as possible, the relationship with the Prime Minister is now irrecoverable. “Out of here you don’t have to think that people tear their clothes” if the government falls. And Rocco adds to the dose “it is not the government most loved by Italians!” Conte thinks about it, the deputy Riccardo Ricciardi nods. He, like many other MPs, is ready to leave. “You don’t have to look at your navel,” adds Rocco. Maria Chiara Ricchiuti, of the communication staff is present. They are the ones to polish the last passages, to “fix it”, that note, after the drafting of a small group of six, perhaps seven parliamentarians. Paola Taverna is passing through, like Vittoria Baldino.
Few people know of the draft which, after the meeting with Draghi, at the order of Casalino, will be published. If all goes smoothly and Conte believes in Draghi’s good faith, the note will turn into a post on social media. “The job will not be lost,” they assure. A chronicle of the last few months, a text where the fixed points of the Movement are made clear. While the others are thinking about which words to use, there are those who come down to collect the sushi ordered from Daruma, a Roman restaurant behind the Parliament, a few meters from the grill office. Nothing is decided, the draft remains open to new changes. Hoping it doesn’t get stained by the soy sauce.
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