The Shining Star of the Center-Right with the Decline of the Five Star Movement
With the calming of the situation after the world wars, the first steps towards forming a pluralistic and democratic government were taken, and the Italian Constitution was approved in 1947. During this period, two parties, the Christian Democrats and the Communists, emerged on the political scene of this country. Over time, due to the unique political culture of this country, the number of parties increased significantly.
Some of the new parties were founded by party leaders following internal party disputes and divisions or by representatives within a party. Instead of creating a dialogue space to reach a consensus point to guide the party, different groups insist on their positions, which itself leads to a kind of inflexibility within the party.
Another feature of Italy’s domestic politics is the formation of coalitions after elections, and for this reason, coalition parties generally have a heterogeneous structure that only brings them together for a short period due to shared political interests to exploit the advantages of power.
The Flawed Political Structure, the Enemy of Government Stability
Political instability in this country, rooted in the political culture of its elites and political parties, alongside a bicameral system with equal powers, has faced political reforms with many obstacles and difficulties. Every government bill presented in the House of Representatives must be approved again by the Senate after passing, and any changes in the Senate require re-approval in the House of Representatives.
This structure limits the freedom of action for governments to implement programs and makes the approval and ratification of government bills time-consuming. All these factors lead to instability and inefficiency in governments. Undoubtedly, in such an environment, populist parties and movements have a good chance of entering the realm of power. In this context, we witnessed the formation of the Five Star Movement in the past decade.
The Italian Comedian and the Aspiration for Politics
In 2009, the famous comedian and political activist Beppe Grillo, along with web entrepreneur Gianroberto Casaleggio, founded the Five Star Movement. In its early years, this movement managed to secure a significant amount of votes in local elections. Similarly, in the 2013 general elections, for the first time in Italy, the Five Star Movement’s candidates were elected online through direct votes from the movement’s supporters.
The Five Star Party was able to secure the highest number of votes, equivalent to 55.25% of domestic votes and 67.09% of overseas votes, surpassing the Democratic Party, which received 42.25% of domestic votes and 9.29% of overseas votes. Subsequently, in the 2014 European Parliament elections, the Five Star Movement managed to secure 15.21% of the votes.
The features of this movement include a populist approach, anti-establishment nature, anti-globalization, anti-European, and anti-immigration stance, and due to these characteristics, this movement is considered a new right-wing party.
The Rise and Fall of the Five Star Movement in the Political Sky
The 2018 elections were a significant success for the Five Star Movement, and they managed to win the elections and, for the first time, found themselves in a position to form a government. After this success, the party leaders gained governmental and parliamentary positions, and it wasn’t long before the sweet taste of power was so attractive that some members of this party preferred staying in power over remaining faithful to their commitments and electoral promises.
Ultimately, this movement also fell into internal party disputes, and the members were divided into two groups: radical idealists and government officials. Consequently, a significant portion of the movement’s votes shifted in favor of other traditional parties, and the party’s representatives were absorbed by opposing parties. It is clear that such political behaviors have tarnished the image of the movement’s members and representatives in the eyes of public opinion and their supporters, leading the Five Star Movement to face a crisis. Although the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting damage delayed the fall of the Five Star-Democratic coalition government, it did not prevent the groundwork for forming a technical government led by Mario Draghi.
