- Title: ITALY: Fiery comic Grillo rounds off Italy election campaign
- Date: 22nd February 2013
- Summary: EDITORS NOTE: RESENDING WITH FULL STORY ROME, ITALY (FEBRUARY 22, 2013) (REUTERS) VIEW OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE GATHERING AT RALLY IN ROME VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAVING FLAGS FLAG FOR 5 STAR MOVEMENT PEOPLE AT RALLY (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) RALLY ATTENDEE GIANNI CAVAZZONI SAYING: "We are here to vote and try and change italy because we are tired." (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) RALLY ATTENDEE, DANILO MARON, SAYING: "We want to change things. We can't put up with it anymore." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HOLDING UMBRELLAS AT RALLY VIEW OF RALLY MAN HOLDING UP 5 STAR MOVEMENT BUTTON CLOSE-UP OF BUTTON FOR 5 STAR MOVEMENT PEOPLE HOLDER BANNERS BEPPE GRILLO COMING ONTO STAGE AT RALLY BANNER READING: "Send them home." (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) COMEDIAN-TURNED-POLITICIAN, BEPPE GRILLO, OF THE FIVE-STAR MOVEMENT (M5S), SAYING: "We have entered another phase, another phase, I don't know what it will lead to but it is another phase. It is incredible. even I have changed, I have changed. We have changed. We are not only a movement but we are a community." MAN LOOKING ON GRILLO SPEAKING ON STAGE PEOPLE CLAPPING AND CHEERING
- Embargoed: 9th March 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA64FDS0523QJ0BUOXE7MNS0FN7
- Story Text: Italian comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo draws hundreds of thousands to the final election campaign rally.
Fiery comic Beppe Grillo rounded off the Italian election campaign with a fiery rally in central Rome on Friday (February 22) that drew hundreds of thousands of supporters and underlined the capacity of his 5-Star Movement to create an upset when voting opens on Sunday (February 24).
Arriving in his distinctive campaign bus, Grillo launched into his now-familiar tirade against corrupt politicians and bankers, taking aim against targets ranging from Silvio Berlusconi and Mario Monti to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"We are here to vote and try and change italy because we are tired," said Gianni Cavazzoni.
"We want to change things. We can't put up with it anymore," said Danilo Maron.
Grillo bellowed to cheers from the crowd estimated at more than 500,000, many of whom had waited for hours in the rain before his arrival at Piazza San Giovanni, a traditional meeting place of the left.
"We have entered another phase, another phase, I don't know what it will lead to but it is another phase. It is incredible. even I have changed, I have changed. We have changed. We are not only a movement but we are a community," he said.
The rally was the last stop on Grillo's "Tsunami Tour" which has taken him across Italy in a camper van, yelling himself hoarse at packed meetings that have complemented the most effective Internet operation in Italian politics.
Tapping into the pent-up rage that millions of Italians feel over the corruption and privilege of their political elites, Grillo has built his 5-Star Movement from a fringe phenomenon into one of the most talked-about electoral forces in Europe.
Attacked by mainstream politicians as a dangerous populist and a threat to democracy, Grillo has ruled out an alliance with any of the big parties and constitutes one of the biggest elements of uncertainty in the election.
He wants to hold a referendum on remaining in the euro, restructure Italy's huge public debt as well as stripping politicians of their privileges
The last opinion polls before a pre-election blackout two weeks ago gave Grillo's Movement some 16 percent of the vote and several electoral experts believe that it may have built on that score, helped by a string of corporate and political scandals.
The movement is on course to send scores of novice deputies to parliament, where they could have a significant impact on the makeup of the next government.
Grillo's often spiky relations with the mainstream media were again in evidence on Friday after organisers banned Italian journalists from the backstage, admitting only the foreign press until police ordered them to let in local reporters. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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