Grillo says Renzi and Berlusconi will sink together

M5S leader to 'ask president for govt' if it wins EU vote

(ANSA) - Rome, April 28 - Italian comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo, leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), painted opposing political rivals on the left and right as allied for mutual survival on a television program broadcast Monday morning. Grillo, who is campaigning for M5S representatives to be voted into the European Parliament in elections on May 25, also vowed to appeal for control of the Italian government if his party garners more European MPs than the currently dominant centre-left Democratic Party (PD).

"Renzi and Berlusconi will remain allies, otherwise they will die together," Grillo told talk show Agora' on the public station RAI 3, referring to Italian Premier Matteo Renzi, who is the leader of the centre-left PD, and ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, who is head of the centre-right opposition party Forza Italia (FI). Renzi came under criticism from senior figures in his own party for being too chummy with Berlusconi after meeting him in February to come to an agreement over election reform. "But it is the end for them. Renzi is standing thanks to the banks, the European multinationals. He is the son of the troika (EU-ECB-IMF)," added Grillo, who is against economic austerity imposed by international organizations and is for pulling out of the European single currency. "If I win (the EU parliament elections), I am going to Europe and we will tear up the fiscal compact there in front of them," Grillo said.

"It is enough to have one candidate more than the PD and we have won. May 25 is a crossroads. If the 5-Star Movement wins at the European (parliament elections), I will go to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and I will ask to have the government in hand. We will prepare a government team".