ROME – The anti-establishment Five Star Movement Blog opened an online vote to the public on Friday, aiming to determine whether to pursue the hastily cobbled up M5S-League government contract, the party’s leader Luigi Di Maio announced.

 “It is a historical moment! Vote on the contract for the government of change!” a message read on Di Maio’s Facebook page.

 Having settled the contract with the anti-migrant League leader, Matteo Salvini, late on Thursday, Di Maio added that the programme, published on the party’s ‘Rousseau’ webpage, would represent a wide spectrum of the Italian population while admitting that there would be conflicts of interest.

 Working mothers, the young of Di Maio’s generation, families in need, underpaid workers, teachers, Italians who had gone abroad and the elderly were all touched upon in the Five Star leader’s extensive list, hoping to express a sense of universality in the government contract.

 Various political analysts have, however, pointed out that policies focussed on Southern Italy have largely vanished from the contract.

 Many newly-introduced, controversial measures have been retained, reportedly costing the country over 65 billion euros, just under half of which will solely apply to a proposed flat tax measure, as shockwaves continue to wobble the Milan stock exchange.

 The League's flat tax promise, comprising just two brackets at 15 and 20 percent, has been maintained along with plans to drop sanctions on Russia which received praise from President Putin on Thursday.

 Yet, the contract made no mentioned of an exit from the Eurozone after a leaked draft revived fears across the continent of a Eurosceptic coalition.

 The programme was also to be submitted to the League ‘gazebo’ town hall consultations, before the two populist parties regroup to take stock on Friday’s results.

 The finalisation of the M5S-League pact take the parties one step closer to concluding a longwinded post-election process, which has meandered and back-pedalled through over two and a half months of negotiations.

 “It was a very intense 70 days, a lot of things happened, but in the end we managed to achieve what we had announced during the election campaign,” a relived Di Maio proudly announced on the Facebook.

 With the programme settled, the parties now turn their full attention to the pressing issue of selecting a suitable candidate to become the next Prime Minister.

 Salvini reiterated that neither he nor Di Maio would hold the country’s top position.

 Should the government contract be ratified in the respective party votes, the programme is expected to be delivered to Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Monday, together with an agreed candidate for Prime Minister, seeking approval from the Head of State.

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