They held out the chair, but Beppe is refusing to take it. Italian insurgent politician Beppe Grillo is snubbing attempts by the center-left to lure his Five-Star Movement (M5S) into a governing coalition. It signals a period of looming gridlock that will almost certainly force new elections.
M5S shocked Europe by finishing a close third-place in last weekend’s parliamentary elections, buoyed by its anti-austerity, euro-skeptic, and pro-environmental message. The previous government’s painful cost cutting is widely seen as dictated by Germany, the most-powerful voice in the European Union.
Pier Luigi Bersani’s center-left coalition won a clear majority in the lower house but fell short in the senate, and thus attempted to make the now-dead deal with Grillo.
But Beppe replied by calling the center-left leader “A stalker”.
"It's been days that (Bersani) has been bothering the M5S with indecent proposals,” Beppe wrote in his blog, suggesting that the center-left leader should resign.
New elections are expected before year’s end if not sooner.