Five Star Movement

Five Star Movement
Movimento Cinque Stelle
AbbreviationM5S
PresidentGiuseppe Conte
GuarantorBeppe Grillo
FoundersBeppe Grillo
Gianroberto Casaleggio
Founded4 October 2009; 15 years ago (2009-10-04)
HeadquartersVia Campo Marzio 46, Rome
NewspaperIl Blog di Beppe Grillo (2009–2018)
Il Blog delle Stelle (2018–2021)
Membership (2024)Increase 170,000[1]
Ideology
Political positionLeft-wing[A]
European Parliament groupEFDD (2014–2019)
Non-Inscrits (2019–2024)
The Left (since 2024)
Colors  Yellow
Chamber of Deputies
50 / 400
Senate
26 / 200
European Parliament
8 / 76
Regional Councils
52 / 896
Conference of Regions
1 / 21
Website
movimento5stelle.eu
^ A: The party has been variously considered left- and right-wing populist, as well as being considered a big tent party. Since the early 2020s the party has been primarily seen and described by its leaders as left-leaning.[2]

The Five Star Movement (Italian: Movimento 5 Stelle [moviˈmento ˈtʃiŋkwe ˈstelle], M5S) is a political party in Italy. Its leader and president is Giuseppe Conte, who served as Prime Minister of Italy from 2018 until 2021.[3] The party was founded on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a political activist and comedian, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist.[4] The party is primarily described as populist[5][6][7] of the syncretic kind,[8][9][10] due to its members' long-time insistence that it has no place in the left–right political spectrum.[11][12] The party has been a proponent of green politics[13] and direct democracy,[14][15] and, since the party's crescent involvement in the centre-left coalition, progressivism,[16] social democracy[17] and left-wing populism.[18]

From 2014 to 2017, the M5S was a member of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group in the European Parliament, along with the UK Independence Party and minor Eurosceptic parties. In January 2017, M5S members voted in favour of Grillo's proposal to join the ALDE Group but the party was eventually refused,[19][20] and sat as Non-Inscrits in the European Parliament, until joining The Left following the 2024 European Parliament election.[21][22]

In November 2014, Grillo appointed a directory composed of five leading members: Alessandro Di Battista, Luigi Di Maio, Roberto Fico, Carla Ruocco, and Carlo Sibilia.[23][24] It lasted until the following October when Grillo dissolved it and proclaimed himself the political head of the M5S.[25] From the foundation until 2021, Grillo also formally served as president of the association named Five Star Movement; his nephew Enrico Grillo served as vice-president and his accountant Enrico Maria Nadasi as secretary.[26][27] In the 2017 M5S leadership election, Di Maio won 82% of the vote, while Grillo continued to be M5S's guarantor.[28][29] In January 2018, Grillo separated his own blog, which was used the party's online newspaper, with the brand-new Blog delle Stelle.[30] After the 2021 leadership election, a new party statute was approved and former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte became the new president, while Grillo continued as guarantor of the movement.[31] M5S has undergone several splits since its formation, including the formation of Alternativa, Environment 2050, and most recently Di Maio's Together for the Future.[32] In the 2013 Italian general election, the M5S was the second-most popular single party and the third-most popular political force overall, behind the centre-left coalition and the centre-right coalition.[33] The M5S rejected a proposed coalition government with the Democratic Party and entered opposition.[34][35] In 2016, its candidates, Chiara Appendino and Virginia Raggi were elected mayors of Turin and Rome, respectively.[36] The M5S supported the successful No vote in the 2016 constitutional referendum.[37] In the 2018 general election, the M5S became the largest party overall,[38][39][40] and successfully formed a government headed by M5S-backed independent Giuseppe Conte together with Lega. In 2019 the government collapsed and the party formed a new government with the centre-left Democratic Party, with Conte remaining premier until the 2021 government crisis, which resulted in the formation of a national unity government, which lasted until the 2022 election.[41][42] The party suffered a substantial defeat in the 2022 general election, winning 15% of the vote to become the third-most-voted party, but due to the electoral system became the fourth-largest party in parliament, where it sits in opposition to the Meloni government.[43] Thanks in part to a strong performance in Southern Italy, the M5S defied single-digits polls in July 2022,[44] and they won single-member constituencies in the South that otherwise would have been won by the centre-right coalition.[45][46] In the 2024 Sardinian regional election, the M5S candidate Alessandra Todde was elected president of Sardinia, the party's first regional president and the region's first female president,[47][48] at the head of a centre-left coalition.[49]

  1. ^ "M5S, più iscritti del Pd. Ma la tessera è gratis e tre su 4 sono uomini". 24 March 2024.
  2. ^ "I 5 Stelle di Conte si buttano a sinistra. Alcuni dati di fatto e qualche dubbio". il manifesto (in Italian). 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  3. ^ Conte diventa leader: già 40 mila voti dagli iscritti, Il Fatto Quotidiano
  4. ^ "Notizie in due minuti". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 5 October 2009. p. 64. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  5. ^ Rowinski, Paul (2013). "Euroscepticism in the Berlusconi and Murdoch Press". In Alec Charles (ed.). Media/Democracy: A Comparative Study. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-4438-5008-7.
  6. ^ Foot, John (2014). Modern Italy. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 223–226. ISBN 978-1-137-04192-0. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
  7. ^ Gauja, Anika; Van Haute, Emilie, eds. (2015). "List of party names and abbreviations". Party Members and Activists. Routledge. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-317-52432-8.
  8. ^ Caruso, Loris (2017). "Digital Capitalism and the End of Politics: The Case of the Italian Five Star Movement". Politics & Society. 45 (4): 585–609. doi:10.1177/0032329217735841. S2CID 158156480 – via SAGE.
  9. ^ Mercea, Dan; Mosca, Lorenzo (2021). "Understanding movement parties through their communication". Information, Communication & Society. 24 (10): 1332. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2021.1942514. hdl:2434/903207. S2CID 236144873 – via Taylor & Francis.
  10. ^ Downes, James (19 February 2020). "'Syncretic' Populism in Contemporary 21st Century European Politics". Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  11. ^ Barberis, Mauro (21 October 2019). "M5S, l'ambiguità destra/sinistra è scritta nel suo Dna. Un libro-testimonianza spiega perché". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  12. ^ Cuzzocrea, Annalisa (14 April 2021). "La Carta del M5S di Conte: "Né destra né sinistra"". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  13. ^ Thompson, Mitra (March 2019). "Who Owns the Environment: The state of Green party politics around the world" (PDF). Ipsos. p. 7. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  14. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Italy". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Casaleggio 2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "Fico: "Noi del M5S i veri innovatori e progressisti". Agi (in Italian). 23 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  17. ^ "Verso un M5S a trazione socialdemocratica?". www.rivistailmulino.it (in Italian). 22 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  18. ^ Varriale, Amedeo (8 June 2021). "Institutionalized Populism: The 'Strange Case' of the Italian Five Star Movement". Populism Studies. European Center for Populism Studies. doi:10.55271/op0009. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  19. ^ "EU liberals refuse to unite with Italy Five Star Eurosceptics". BBC. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  20. ^ "M5s, Parlamento Ue: salta il passaggio a eurogruppo Alde. Verhofstadt: 'Poche garanzie'". La Repubblica (in Italian). 9 January 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  21. ^ "Via libera dalla Sinistra Ue a ingresso del M5S nel gruppo". TGcom24 (in Italian). 4 July 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Italy's Five Star Movement joins the Left but with observer status".
  23. ^ "M5S supporters give thumbs up to Grillo directorate" (in Italian). ANSA. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  24. ^ Mackenzie, James (29 November 2014). "'Tired' Grillo overhauls leadership of Italy's 5-Star Movement". Reuters. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  25. ^ Perrone, Manuela (25 September 2016). "Svolta di Grillo: 'Sono il capo politico'". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  26. ^ Bassi, Andrea (12 March 2013). "M5s, ecco lo statuto del Movimento 5 stelle. L'atto costitutivo firmato a Cogoleto da Beppe Grillo, il nipote Enrico Grillo e il commercialista. Non compare il nome di Casaleggio". L'Huffington Post (in Italian). Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  27. ^ "M5S: Di Maio, Grillo sempre con noi, garante e risorsa" (in Italian). ANSA. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  28. ^ "M5s, Di Maio eletto candidato premier e nuovo capo politico. Ma alle primarie votano solo in 37 mila". La Repubblica (in Italian). 23 September 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  29. ^ Imarisio, Marco (23 September 2017). "Movimento 5 Stelle: l'incoronazione gelida. E Di Maio promette a tutti 'disciplina e onore'". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  30. ^ "Il blog di Beppe Grillo è cambiato". Il Post (in Italian). 23 January 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  31. ^ Cuzzocrea, Annalisa (6 August 2021). "M5S, Conte eletto presidente col 93% di sì: 'Ce la metterò tutta per non deludervi'. Con lui 5 vice. Ecco chi ci sarà nella sua squadra al comando'". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  32. ^ Amante, Angelo; Jones, Gavin (21 June 2022). "Italy Foreign Minister di Maio quits 5-Star to form new group". Reuters. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  33. ^ "Risultato elezioni 2013: con i voti degli italiani all'estero il Pd è il primo partito alla Camera". The Huffington Post. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  34. ^ Garzia, Diego (1 September 2013). "The 2013 Italian Parliamentary Election: Changing Things So Everything Stays the Same" (PDF). West European Politics. 36 (5): 1095–1105. doi:10.1080/01402382.2013.815483. hdl:1814/29550. ISSN 0140-2382. S2CID 154348528.
  35. ^ "'The Italian General Election of 2013' – A free e-book collecting CISE analyses". Italian Center for Electoral Studies. 23 November 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  36. ^ Scamell, Rosie (20 June 2016). "Anti-establishment candidates elected to lead Rome and Turin". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  37. ^ John, Tara (1 December 2016). "What to Know About Italy's Constitutional Referendum". Time. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  38. ^ Foster, Peter; Squires, Nick (4 March 2018). "Populist Five Star Movement wins largest share of vote in Italian election, exit poll indicates". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  39. ^ "Populists close in on power in Italy". BBC. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  40. ^ Bremmer, Ian (18 May 2018). "Five Things to Know About Italy's Populist Coalition Government". Time. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  41. ^ "Analysis: How the rebel Five Star Movement joined Italy's establishment". The Local. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  42. ^ Downes, James F.; Palma, Nicola (6 July 2020). "Ideological Ambiguity, Issue Blurring & Party Dissent: The Electoral Decline of the Populist Italian Five Star Movement". Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  43. ^ Pucciarelli, Matteo (26 October 2022). "Grillo incontra i parlamentari del M5S: 'Spero che il governo duri a lungo' E sul reddito di cittadinanza: 'Va difeso a ogni costo'". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  44. ^ Anzolin, Elisa; Weir, Keith (26 September 2022). "Italy election victors target era of political stability". Reuters. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  45. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kirby 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  46. ^ Cite error: The named reference Horowitz 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  47. ^ Chiariello, Paolo (27 February 2024). "Alessandra Todde è la prima presidente donna della Regione Sardegna". Fortune Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  48. ^ "Regionali, Todde esulta: 'Sono la prima presidente donna della Sardegna'". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). 27 February 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  49. ^ Giuffrida, Angela (27 February 2024). "Sardinia elects leftwing president, in blow to Giorgia Meloni". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 July 2024.