Milan, Sept. 8 (LaPresse) – “I am at the service of the progressive project, regardless of who wins the primaries. If it is Schlein, we will support her. Not doing so would be inconceivably cowardly.” Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement, said this in an interview with La Stampa. “For me there are no alternatives; if I agreed to choose the leader in another way, my people would spit on me,” he said, explaining that the next elections represent for the Five Star Movement “the first time in a coalition in a general election, we have to make our base feel involved.” “You say that, if I lost the primaries, many of our supporters would then not go to vote in the elections,” he added, “but I guarantee you that if I stepped aside to let Schlein or another potential candidate run, it would be worse.” For Conte, the primaries “need to be properly prepared; it’s not a matter of voting for one day and that’s it, a process is needed to create the right conditions.” “For me, Renzi costs us votes; bringing him into the coalition is a mistake,” he stressed, “but Elly decided from the outset to keep him in and we will have to deal with it.”
Centre-left, Conte: “If we don’t hold primaries, my people will spit on me”
Milan, Sept. 8 (LaPresse) – “I am at the service of the progressive project, regardless of who wins the primaries. If it is Schlein, we will support her. Not doing so would be inconceivably cowardly.” Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement, said this in an interview with La Stampa. “For me there are no alternatives; if I agreed to choose the leader in another way, my people would spit on me,” he said, explaining that the next elections represent for the Five Star Movement “the first time in a coalition in a general election, we have to make our base feel involved.” “You say that, if I lost the primaries, many of our supporters would then not go to vote in the elections,” he added, “but I guarantee you that if I stepped aside to let Schlein or another potential candidate run, it would be worse.” For Conte, the primaries “need to be properly prepared; it’s not a matter of voting for one day and that’s it, a process is needed to create the right conditions.” “For me, Renzi costs us votes; bringing him into the coalition is a mistake,” he stressed, “but Elly decided from the outset to keep him in and we will have to deal with it.”