"Dragons? Yes, I am responsible for his fall »-Corriere.it

(This article first appeared in the Corriere Press Review)

Sometimes our innate provincialism prompts us to overestimate the foreign press and our esteemed colleagues. We often place phrases such as "as the authoritative writes ...", followed by any foreign newspaper.

Of course, they are not always so authoritative, but once again we came to think that when we read the interview page that the newspaper turns off. El Paìs dedicated to Giuseppe Contenew leader of the izquierda Italian. The correspondent from Rome Daniel Verdù - who beyond the ritual certificates is really good - managed to get Conte to say what no Italian journalist had been able to make him say. Maybe because of his ability or maybe because the leader of the 5 Star Movement settled the crisis, he felt safe, took courage and said a word he had never uttered: "Yup".

What matters, in this case, was the question, which followed Conte's reasoning on the fact that "we did not feel we could share direct responsibility with the government": "So you are responsible for the fall of the government?"asks Verdù. Conte's answer on the caìda del gubierno is that "Yes" that flocks of talented Italian political reporters have always tried to snatch from him, without success.

So far Conte had given several versions.

The most officially accredited was that Draghi, with the connivance of the Democratic Party, had insisted on including the waste-to-energy plant in Rome. Grillo, Lombardi and Conte were outraged by what appeared to them to be an unacceptable provocation. Instead of the waste-to-energy plant, they proposed oxy-combustion, combustion without flame. But instead the flame was there and the combustion sent the government to ashes. Less blind obstinacy would have been enough, said the grillini. If Draghi had been more "political" and less proud, a mediation could have been found. Are you sure?

From time to time the issues on which Conte focused have changed. Perhaps a sign of real political unease, perhaps a pretext to raise the level of the clash, perhaps a tactic to quickly climb back into the polls that at the time gave it a peak. Speaking of discomfort, there was the waste-to-energy plant, of course, but also the risk that the r was touchedcitizenship certificate (real time). And then the minimum salary. And the superbonus. And the elimination of the cashback tax. And the attack on anti-corruption reform. And the green transition. And the taxation on extra-profits. And sending the arms to Ukraine. And the lack of debate.

Be that as it may, we arrive at the crisis. Going by order, Draghi resigned on July 14, when the 5 Star Movement does not vote for confidence in the Aid decree. The trigger is of the 5 Stars, which had already submitted nine programmatic requests on 6 July. The head of state rejects his resignation and Draghi returns to ask for trust on 20 July. At that point Lega and Forza Italia take the opportunity to jump the bank and restore sovereignty to politics, so to speak. And nThey do not vote for trust, like 5 Stars. Non-voting attendees.

At that point the ballet of mutual accusations.

A few days after the events, Berlusconi gets carried away: «Draghi had to stay. If he has fallen, it's the fault of M5S and Pd ». The 5 Stars accuse Draghi of putting the Movement on the ropes, but deny that they wanted to bring down the government.

In those days, the parent company in the Senate Maria Domenica Castellone does not explain how the uproar against them was unleashed while when other parties had not voted for trust, as Italy lives with the Cartabia reform or the League with the Green Pass decrees, everything he had passed into the cavalry. Why so much fury? On Tg1 he says it clearly, so that there are no misunderstandings: "We have neither voted against nor disheartened the government." In short, do not allow us to say that the 5 Stars have discouraged Draghi. Conte also throws the ball back into the premier's field: "Draghi has drawn the consequences that he believed: we were confident he could opt for a different path than the choice to resign." They trusted a lot, but evidently Draghi was a bit tired, as the M5S leader said when he claimed he wanted to propose him for the EU Commission. The 5 Stars "trusted", but their trust was betrayed by Draghi, who drew the consequences he believed. «We were put at the door - Conte thundered on July 20 -. There was a deliberate will to kick us out of the majority ".

But let's take a step back. On March 28, Conte denied that his opposition to sending new weapons could cause repercussions on the executive: "The M5S is absolutely not thinking of a government crisis, I say this clearly despite what the newspapers write ». On March 30 Conte still rebels against the mainstream narrative of the journalists: "The M5S has posed a problem and when the M5S poses a problem it means that it wants a government crisis: this is the corner in which they want to crush us". On May 13 he goes further, to the foreign press: «We do not want a government crisis at all. Someone reads these positions in a malicious way, almost as if they are having fun creating problems for the government, but absolutely not. I am the leader who is working to strengthen Prime Minister Draghi even more".

Here, unfortunately the strengthening work has worked very well. Mind you, a progressive marginalization of the Movement and its battles was evident. And it was entirely legitimate, even if questionable, the choice to bring down the government to make a comeback in the polls. There is only to add that Conte could have said it openly, then and in the last two months. She could have said: «Yes, it's true, I brought down the government, the conditions were no longer there. I couldn't take it anymore ». And instead she insisted on saying no and then no, that we would dramatize ourselves, that we would put them at the door. He preferred the Finian posture of "What are you doing, throw me out?".

Until the fateful question of Paìs.
And up to the surgical, cathartic, definitive response: "Yes, I was responsible for esa caída."

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