GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2021) Senators of the Five Star Movement (M5S) who refused to support the government led by Mario Draghi at the vote of confidence on Wednesday evening will be expelled from the party, M5S acting leader Vito Crimi said.
Last week, M5S, the biggest party in the Italian parliament, promoting the principles of direct democracy, held a vote on its online Rousseau platform to decide whether the Movement should support the government by Draghi at the vote of confidence. Over 59 percent of M5S members said yes, and Crimi noted the decision was binding.
However, at the vote of confidence in the Senate on Wednesday, 15 M5S senators voted against. The support for Draghi was in any case overwhelming - 262 votes in favor, 40 against and two abstentions.
"The 15 senators who voted 'No' failed to comply with the role of the Movement's representatives, who must respect the voting preferences of the Movement's members. Moreover, the vote on the new government is not a vote like any other. It is the vote from which the majority that supports the executive and the opposition take shape. And now the 15 senators who voted 'No' are, in fact, in opposition," Crimi wrote on his Facebook page.
"For this reason they will no longer be able to be part of the parliamentary group of the Movement in the Senate. I therefore asked the group leader to report on their expulsion, with respect to the rules of the group and the charter of the Movement," Crimi said.
He added that he was aware of the possible opposition to such a decision, but said due respect must be paid to those who put aside their personal views and contribute to the work of the M5S parliamentary group as a whole, "with the only goal of serving the citizens."
Later on Thursday, a vote of confidence to the Draghi government will take place in the chamber of deputies. Around 20 parliamentarians from the M5S may vote against, it is expected.
