(ANSA) - Rome, March 31 - Changing the Senate to reduce its
powers is unconstitutional, Beppe Grillo, leader of the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) party said Monday even
as Premier Matteo Renzi working to win support to amend the
Constitution to permit such changes.
If Renzi wants to streamline government and make cuts, he
should start with his own position, added Grillo.
But the premier "is the first person to live for politics,"
shown by his long history in political affairs, including as
mayor of Florence and before that, serving in regional
government, Grillo said on his blog, his favourite way of
communicating with the public.
Renzi, the leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD),
was set on Monday to get his cabinet to approve a bill to change
the Constitution to reform the Senate, stripping it of its
lawmaking powers and turning it into a leaner assembly of
local-government representatives.
The bill will also change Article V of the Constitution to
make it possible to scrap Italy's provincial administrations and
take back some powers from the country's regional governments,
many of which are guilty of overspending.
Grillo complains that Renzi's plans 'unconstitutional'
M5S leader suggests premier's cuts should begin with his own job