A year on, bitter Italians keep Grillo flying high

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By Roberto Landucci ROME (Reuters) - Franco Picini, a schoolteacher in Italy's capital city, says he has voted for the left all his life, but in this month's European parliament elections, he will back the 5-Star Movement of comedian Beppe Grillo. \"I know his political platform isn't very clear, but enough with Italy's old political guard! They all have to go,\" says the slim 58-year-old, who teaches teenagers with special needs. \"Grillo is the only alternative ... if we want to start over.\" The 5-Star Movement swept into Italy's national parliament for the first time last year, riding a wave of discontent with the country's politicians and their mismanagement of the euro zone's third largest economy. Even so, with Italy still scarred by a three-year economic downturn, the 65-year-old Grillo's grassroots populism remains a potent electoral weapon.




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