Cult Italian comedian Beppe Grillo has put the accelerator on his bid to purge parliament of convicted MPs by forging ahead with a people's bill that would ban lawmakers with records from holding seats.
Grillo is launching a so-called V-Day campaign on Saturday when legions of supporters will set up stands in squares across the country to gather signatures for a popular legislative initiative.
The anti-establishment comic is hoping that in one day, he will obtain the 50,000 signatures necessary to lodge a petition for enacting his 'Clean Parliament Law'.
The bill consists of three articles, the first banning any parliamentary candidates who are on trial or have been convicted, the second preventing MPs from serving for more than two legislatures, and the third introducing direct election of MPs rather than leaving the choice up to parties.
Grillo has used his immensely popular blog - the most-read one in Italy and among the top 20 worldwide - to drum up support for the campaign, which has the backing of a host of Italian celebrities.
True to style, the comic has dubbed the initiative V-Day with V standing for Vaf*** (f*** off) and directed at the many MPs currently sitting in parliament who have criminal records or are awaiting definitive trial verdicts.
Ordinary bloggers and fans will man the impromptu stands in more than 170 Italian cities and towns while Grillo himself will be campaigning in person from the northern city of Bologna.
More than 190,000 bloggers have already expressed support by signing a petition on Grillo's blog.
Among the big names joining the Saturday campaign are hit comedienne Sabina Guzzanti, pop idols Ligabue and Gianna Nannini, pacifist doctor Gino Strada and top investigative journalists Milena Gabanelli and Marco Travaglio.
Public Works Minister Antonio Di Pietro, an anti-graft prosecutor-turned-politician, is one of the few politicians backing the initiative.
Di Pietro, who made his name in the early 1990s leading the 'Clean Hands' corruption probes which brought down Italy's old political guard, has long been campaigning for the removal of MPs with convictions.
"Grillo has launched a day of civil action. I appeal to all citizens who want to improve this country to back V-Day," said Di Pietro, who will be signing the petition in Milan.
According to the recent book Honourable Men Wanted, co-authored by a group of top political journalists, almost 10% of Italian lawmakers are either on trial, awaiting an appeal or have a conviction, including former premier and opposition chief Silvio Berlusconi.
Close Berlusconi aide Cesare Previti, who has twice been convicted of corruption, resigned as MP two months ago just as the House was about to strip him of his seat in compliance with a court ruling banning him from public office.
GRILLO NAMES CONVICTED LAWMAKERS.
In November Grillo placed a full-page advertisement in the International Herald Tribune denouncing 23 Italian parliamentarians who have all received definitive convictions and in most cases for corruption crimes.
The 59-year-old Genoese crusader called on the lawmakers, whom he referred to as "our employees", to step down in order to give a concrete sign that "our country is changing".
The ad, which cost a total of 57,000 euros, was paid for with the help of thousands of Grillo's blog readers.
Because the IHT refused Grillo's request to publish the names of the 23, the comedian put the list on his Web site.
The MPs concerned appeared unfazed by the protest.
Former foreign minister and ex-deputy Socialist Party leader Gianni De Michelis, who has been convicted twice of corruption and is now a EuroMP, said that "the people voted for me and I was re-elected. Grillo's opinion doesn't count".
Former Christian Democrat budget minister Paolo Cirino Pomicino, who also has two corruption convictions and sits in the European Parliament with the opposition UDEUR party, said that "Grillo is funny and makes me laugh... but voters are the only judges and 45,000 of them voted for me".
Grillo has long been a thorn in the side of the powers that be.
He has been informally barred from television since 1987 when he made a stab at Bettino Craxi - six years before the late Socialist leader's downfall amid escalating corruption scandals.
In 2005, America's Time magazine named Grillo one of its European heroes of the year, praising him for a career dedicated to denunciation-by-humour.
