Beppe Grillo, TV comedian and founder of the left-wing populist Five Star Movement, is now also publishing scrapbooks in the style of the Panini booklet.

But there are no photos of soccer players or other sports greats to stick in.

But from zombies.

This is how Grillo describes all those MPs and Senators who have left the party since the Five Stars triumphed in the 2018 general election.

On his Facebook page, Grillo has now unveiled the first 70 celebrity zombies, along with the "free" scrapbook, which has a giant hand of the dead protruding from a grave on the title.

Matthias Rub

Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.

  • Follow I follow

Of course, the creepy collector's booklet and the packets with the stickers aren't really available at the kiosk, as Grillo claims on Facebook.

Rather, the fun with the Panini pictures is Grillo's way of calling after the "lost souls" of his party.

Most recently, Grillo had prevailed in the internal party dispute over the maximum of two consecutive parliamentary mandates: Many party greats, who have achieved national prominence since the Five Stars first entered Parliament in 2013 and who have recently held important government positions, are not allowed to participate in the new elections on September 25 compete more.

“We are here to fight, not to stay.

Our diversity confuses the zombies," Grillo said on his blog.

He himself does not need to worry about a mandate limit.

His post as the movement's "guarantee" is not an elected office, and it is not limited in time.

Grillo tailored it himself.

And since he cannot be voted out of office by the party leadership, he does not need to be re-elected.

Grillo has led the movement since its inception in 2009, but has never held elected office.

His mandate as party leader lasted an impressive 13 years.

It is only limited by the lifetime of the founding father, who is now 74 years old.

However, the position of “garante” is not an honorary post, although Grillo does not have to deal with the exhausting and time-consuming day-to-day business of practical politics.

The party pays the “garante” an annual expense allowance of 300,000 euros.

Guaranteed.