The fight in the 5 Star Movement ends in a draw

Traffic discussions in Rome are usually a spectacle.

The drivers get out of the car, face each other, yell at each other within an inch of each other and threaten each other with the most extreme violence.

There it ends.

Then they get in the car and, as if nothing had happened, they continue on their way.

Beppe Grillo, founder of the 5 Star Movement, and Giuseppe Conte, former prime minister and future leader of the populist party, have done something similar in the last two weeks.

After insults and putting the formation on the verge of schism, both have taken account and have understood that it was not convenient for anyone to tighten the rope more.

Conte will be the president of the new formation -after the corresponding vote- and Grillo will continue to be the guarantor, a blurred figure of general supervision.

More information

• Conte, prophet of a reborn 5 Star Movement

• Beppe Grillo breaks up with Conte and causes chaos in the 5 Star Movement

Two weeks ago, the war between the two exploded when Conte presented the statute that he had been drafting for months to refound the M5S.

That day, tired of the comedian's interference, he went directly to Grillo to ask him for freedom and to mark the territory that from then on he considered his.

"You have to choose to be a generous father, or a patron father," the former prime minister said.

The Genoese comedian, beside himself and in a clear miscalculation, responded by assuring him that "he has no political vision or managerial capacity."

A few words that sparked one of the biggest conflicts since the M5S was founded.

The break was total. The teams on both fronts pulled out the calculator to see how much support they would be able to garner among the parliamentarians that the M5S has in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Conte let his surroundings feed the idea that the best thing would be to create his own party. The polls favored him at the beginning, but they also warned of the volatility that a new formation always entails and the danger of ending up being a residual force, as has happened to Matteo Renzi with Italia Viva. “The break is not good for any of them. Conte is essential to our survival. But alone it is not clear what he could do ”, points out a deputy from

.

The negotiations took place with the mediation of heavyweights from the M5S such as the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Roberto Fico. A schism was not convenient for them either, just when their careers take greater flight and they could continue to grow (Di Maio is increasingly comfortable in the Foreign portfolio and Fico has a lot of room to grow in the more progressive wing M5S).

Peace, however, will be temporary. Conte will try to shield its independence in the statute that will be voted on in the coming days. But the humor of Grillo, a character in low hours politically and personally, is unpredictable and can cause new storms, fear in the party. In the Chigi Palace they also know it and are balancing so that an earthquake in the M5S - the majority party in parliament - does not have consequences in the unity Executive headed by Mario Draghi.

Last week, in the middle of negotiations, another episode stirred the waters again. The president of the Council of Ministers, Mario Draghi, called Beppe Grillo to secure support for the crucial justice reform. A movement that caused unrest in Conte's environment, which he felt neglected, and that some saw as a way to delegitimize him for his recent opposition to said reform. It so happens that Grillo also has an important conflict of interest in the advancement of said reform, since his son is awaiting trial for an alleged gang rape of a girl. A case that would be affected by the modification prepared by the Executive of criminal justice. "He's like [Silvio] Berlusconi", they quickly criticized from within the M5S when they learned that the comedian had given Draghi the green light.Probably the worst comparison that the founder of a party that was born to fight figures like the owner of Mediaset could hear.