Italian protest party holds online vote for president

Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement party held an online vote on Thursday to select candidates to be the crisis-hit country's next president -- an unorthodox move before lawmakers begin voting on the post next week.

Published: 12 April 2013 09:41 CEST

Italian protest party holds online vote for president

M5S leader Grillo has proposed Nobel laureate playwright Dario Fo for president. Photo: Caulfieldh

Members of the protest party led by former comedian turned populist firebrand Beppe Grillo could propose their candidate for president through the party's website and a shortlist of the ten top names will be voted on next week.

The M5S as it is known by its Italian acronym said in a statement that the country's two main political forces — the centre-right and centre-left — wanted a president who would defend their interests and defend the status quo.

No other party is holding online voting.

"I believe the next president should not come from the political world or be someone who holds or has held a civil service job," said Grillo, who has proposed 87-year-old Nobel laureate playwright Dario Fo for the seven-year mandate.

He accused the parties of deciding on candidates in "secret rooms", saying his movement was having "a public and democratic consultation".

Among the possible names mentioned by M5S supporters on social media was Gino Strada, the outspoken head of the international medical charity Emergency, and Milena Gabanelli, an investigative journalist on public television.

Thursday's voting wraps up at 1900 GMT.

The shortlist will be voted online again on Tuesday and the winner will be the official presidential candidate for the movement.

A joint session of parliament is due to meet to begin voting for a new president next Thursday.

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The strike comes after Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama — who is close to Meloni — called a top RAI editor to complain about a television report into Italy’s controversial migration deal with his country.

The Usigrai trade union called the strike from May 6 to May 7 saying talks with management had failed to address their concerns.

It cited numerous issues, including staff shortages and contract issues, but in first place was “the suffocating control over journalistic work, with the attempt to reduce RAI to a megaphone for the government”.

It had already used that phrase to object to what critics say is the increasing influence over RAI by figures close to Prime Minister Meloni, who leads Italy’s most right-wing government since World War II.

However, another union of RAI journalists, Unirai, said they would not join what they called a “political” strike, defending the return to “pluralism” at the broadcaster.

Funded in part by a licence fee and with top managers long chosen by politicians, RAI’s independence has always been an issue of debate.

But the arrival in power of Meloni — leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, who formed a coalition with Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party and the late Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia — redoubled concerns.

Tensions erupted at the weekend amid accusations RAI censored a speech by a leading writer criticising Meloni ahead of Liberation Day on April 25, when Italians mark the defeat of Fascism and the Nazis at the end of World War II.

Both RAI’s management and Meloni have denied censorship, and the premier posted the text of the monologue on her social media.

In another twist, Albania’s premier confirmed Thursday he called senior RAI editor Paolo Corsini about an TV report on Sunday into Italy’s plans to build two migration processing centres on Albanian territory.

Rama told La Stampa newspaper the report was “biased” and contained “lies” – adding that he had not raised the issue with Meloni.

The Report programme claimed the costs of migrant centres, which are under construction, were already “out of control” and raised questions about criminals benefiting from the project.