The leader of Italy's centre-left, Pier Luigi Bersani, set out to lure Beppe Grillo and his Five Star Movement (M5S) into a coalition government after their spectacular breakthrough in the general election. At a press conference in Rome, a weary-looking Bersani said it was time for the upstart movement to do something more than just demand the removal of Italy's mainstream politicians. "Up to now, they have been saying: 'All go home.' But now they're here, too. So either they go home as well, or they say what they want to do for their country and their children."
Grillo had earlier said his followers in parliament would not join a coalition, but would consider proposals "law by law, reform by reform". Bersani said that since his centre-left, four-party alliance had won an outright majority in the lower house of the Italian parliament, and more seats than any other grouping in the senate, it had a responsibility to suggest ways in which Italy could be governed, despite the deadlock in the upper house caused by the M5S's stunning gains. Pouring cold water on the idea floated by Silvio Berlusconi of a grand coalition with the right, he proposed a government committed to a radical overhaul of Italy's politics and institutions, outlining a five-point plan for sweeping reform.
In a clear attempt to lure M5S into the mainstream, he hinted that Grillo's movement, as the party with most votes, should get the speakership of the lower house.
Talking to reporters outside his home in Genoa, Grillo, who has always denied being the leader of the M5S, announced he would be representing his movement in the negotiations with President Giorgio Napolitano aimed at forming a new government. But he made clear that the movement he co-founded just over three years ago remained as anti-establishment as ever.
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