5つ星運動 Italy ~ Five Star Movement Partyとは?171024Tue

イタリア政治の流れが変わりつつある。5つ星運動という政党の出現で
ダイナミックなチャレンジで 大きくイタリアを変えつつある。
どんな政党なのか? 見てみよう。日本にも5つ星運動が 起きる可能性は
あるのでは ? と思われる。庶民の味方。若い人たちが中心に
なって政治や社会の仕組みを変えようとしている。
★ウィキペディアや ネットからの情報を 探ってみた。
_________________________________
2016年12月5日月曜日
 
「五つ星運動」というイタリアのポピュリズム政党を知る
https://youtu.be/TH-B_-nhF0g?t=6
 
ベッペ・グリッロ
                                                                                    Photo by Giuseppe Favia

新興野党「五つ星運動」とは?

国民投票否決で増す存在感

2016年12月4日にイタリアで行われた憲法改正の是非を問う国民投票が行われ、反対多数となり否決される結果となりました。

これを受けて改正案を提出していたマッテオ・レンツィ首相は辞任する意向を発表したのですが、憲法改正に反対していた野党の「五つ星運動」の創設者であるベッペ・グリッロ氏は2018年に予定されている選挙の早期実施を求めいて、同党は「政権に就く準備はできている」とコメントしています。

The Five Star Movement (ItalianMovimento 5 Stelle [moviˈmento ˈtʃiŋkwe ˈstelle]M5S) is a political party in Italy.

The M5S was started by Beppe Grillo, a popular comedian and blogger, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist, on 4 October 2009. After Casaleggio’s death in April 2016, Grillo appointed a Directorate composed of five leading MPs (Alessandro Di BattistaLuigi Di MaioRoberto Fico, Carla Ruocco, Carlo Sibilia),

which lasted until the following October, when Grillo dissolved it and proclaimed himself “political head.”

Formally speaking, Grillo is also president of the association named “Five Star Movement,” with his nephew Enrico Grillo vice president and his accountant Enrico Maria Nadasi secretary. Davide Casaleggio, Gianroberto’s son, has an increasingly important, albeit unofficial role.

 

______________________________________

備考: イタリアが憲法改正の国民投票 12月4日 

2016/9/27 9:27

 【ジュネーブ=原克彦】イタリア政府は26日、上院の権限を大幅に縮小する憲法改正案を問う国民投票を12月4日に行うと発表した。頻繁に政権が交代する政治制度を改めるのが狙いだが、レンツィ首相が「否決されれば辞任する」と公言してきたこともあり、政権への信任投票の色合いが濃い。一部世論調査では反対派が賛成派を上回っており、投票を機に政局が混乱する可能性もある。

 イタリアでは上院と下院がほぼ同等の権限を持ち、両院で多数派が異なる「ねじれ」が生じると政権の存続が難しくなる。憲法改正案は、戦後に不安定な政局が続いた反省を踏まえ、現在は選挙で選ばれている上院議員を地方自治体の代表者らで構成する仕組みに変え、法案の審議や内閣の承認などの権限をなくす。実現すれば政権与党は経済活性化に必要な改革を進めやすくなる。

 ただ、過去にファシストのムッソリーニが権力を掌握したイタリアでは、権力の分散を重視する現行制度の変更を嫌う国民も多い。欧州連合(EU)懐疑派の野党「五つ星運動」などは反対を掲げて勢いづいている。

____________________________________

西ヨーロッパのポピュリズム政党として存在感を放つ「五つ星運動」とはどのような党なのでしょうか。

創設から数年で地方、国政、欧州議会に議席

五つ星運動は2009年に企業家でウェブストラテジストのジャンロベルト・カサレッジョ氏とコメディアンのベッペ・グリッロ氏によって設立された政党です。現在は上院で54議席、下院で108の議席を確保していて、2014年の欧州議会選挙でも17議席を獲得しています。

今回の国民投票の否決によりさらに存在感を強めた五つ星運動ですが、今年の4月12日にカサレッジョ氏が61歳で亡くなるという悲しいニュースが報じられました。表舞台に立って党を率いるグリッロ氏とは対照的に陰で運営を行うことが多いものの影響力のある人物だったようです。

5つ星 Cf_oqPTWEAAO6M_

カサレッョ氏とグリッロ氏

一方のグリッロ氏は毒舌を看板にしたコメディアンで、演説やスピーチやツイッターにおいて痛烈に現在のイタリアが抱えている大小の問題を批判していきます。meetupを通じてグリッロ氏の集会に集まる支持者をグリッリーニと名づけられるほどその影響力を強めています。

過激とも言える言動を取り、2011年に政治討論の場で科学者のフランコ・バッタグリア氏のチェルノブイリ事故についての発言を「デマ」だとして「テレビから追い出す。告発して牢屋にぶちこむ」などと発言。2015年9月には裁判所から中傷の罪で禁固1ヶ月の判決を言い渡されています。

2014年に党のトップから退いていたものの、2016年9月25日にふたたびその座に復帰しています。これはローマ市長になった同党のビルジニア・ラッジ氏の幹部が辞職し党内で起きた混乱に対応するためでした。

政策

党の方針としては反体制を基本とし、グローバリズムについても反対していて、環境保護も主張に含めています。

既存の政党や政治家を強く批判し、腐敗した政界の打破を訴えていて、

  • 国会議員の任期は2期10年まで
  • 国会議員の歳費を労働者の平均年収まで下げる
  • 有罪が確定した人物は国会議員に出馬できない
https://youtu.be/GtVUZ_kERTc?t=11
といった内容の議員制度改革を掲げています。憲法改正の国民投票の否決についてグリッロ氏は「民主主義の勝利だ」とコメントしており、イタリアの政治が民主主義そのもの本質から外れていると考えています。

政界の汚職が引きも切らないイタリアにおいて、五つ星運動が目指すクリーンな政治が国民の支持につながったのでした。

また、反グローバリズムの立場からEUにも否定的な姿勢で、政権を取ったあかつきには今年6月のイギリスのEU離脱(ブレグジット)のような国民投票が行われるのではないかとも考えられていました。

つまりEUに懐疑的ではあるものの、EU離脱を求めるドイツの右派政党「ドイツのための選択肢(AfD)」とはかなり性格が異なっています。

現在はEUに対する非難はいくらか低調になっていて、6月には下院副議長のルイジ・ディマイオ氏はユーロの代替となる通貨の是非を問う国民投票を提案しています。

地方を重視した政策を進め、トリノとフランスのリヨンを結ぶ国家事業の高速鉄道のためのトンネル建設に反対したりもしています。

支持層

五つ星運動の支持層は既存の有力勢力に不信・不満を抱いている若者を中心にしています。SNSを利用した選挙キャンペーンはこうした世代の感覚にマッチしてより共感を得る効果が出ていましたが、徐々にその層はイタリア国内で広がりつつあります。

支持層だけでなく、所属議員の平均年齢も40歳と他の議員と比べておよそ20歳ほど若くなっています。

今年の6月に行われた地方選挙でローマではビルジニア・ラッジ氏、トリノではキアラ・アッペンティーの氏が当選していますが、それぞれの年齢は38歳と31歳。

5つ星市長 DBvkItzWsAQyWDC

ッペンティーノ氏(左)とラッジ氏(右)

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参考 ① 国民投票

② Five Star Movement Party, Italy

as hereunder:

 

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Wikipedia ー① 国民投票とは??

国民投票(こくみんとうひょう、英語referendumレファレンダム国民表決)は、国民が直接的な投票によって、国家的な議案を意思決定する制度。

国民投票は直接民主主義の制度の1つで、国民が直接決定するものである。このため間接民主主義の制度である議員選挙議会での議決などとは異なる。多くの国では間接民主主義と直接民主主義が併用されている。

目次

レファレンダムを、日本では通常、日本以外の制度を含め、国政の場合は国民投票、地方自治の場合は住民投票と訳し分けている。

概要

国民主権の思想では、国民が政治権力の源であり、最終決定者である(民主権の原理)。古代ギリシアなどでは民会による直接民主主義が行われた。

しかし全ての問題を国民が直接的に発案・議論・決定する事には限界があるため、国民が代表者(議員)を選出し、国民の信託を受けた議員が議会にて発案・議論・決定する制度が普及した(間接民主主義・代表民主主義

これらの議会制度を採用した国でも、政治の重要事項については直接民主主義の「民主権の原理」が併用されるようになった。「民主権の原理」を構成するのは『イニシアティブ国民発案・住民発案)』『リコール国民解職・住民解職)』『レファレンダム(国民投票・住民投票)』であり、国民投票はそのうちの一つである。間接民主制と併用される直接民主制は、間接民主制を補う参政権として採用されたものである。

国民投票の結果には法的拘束力が生じる場合が多いが、アメリカ合衆国で行われる「タウンミーティング」など法的拘束力が生じない「諮問の投票」が行われている国や地域もある。

議論

ノーベル賞経済学者アマルティア・センは、為政者は政策に大幅な変更をする前に有権者の意思表示を求める必要があると論じる。例えば民主主義国家において、政府が緊縮財政政策を国民に強いる前には、その政策を施行する前に国民投票などで以って国民がその緊縮政策を容認するかどうかを確かめる必要があるのだ。民主的な社会に住みたいと考える人々は公衆の倫理的・政治的ルールの運用を回避すべきではないということである。

一方でリファレンダムは、一定期間後の再投票などが想定されていない場合には1回の投票で表決が決定するため、結果によっては敗北側の不満が残る。なおスイスではリファレンダムの結果に対し、一定の前提条件を満たせば、後にイニシアティブにより再リファレンダムを行う事が可能である。

各国の制度

日本:

日本国憲法では憲法改正の際の国民投票のみが規定されており、日本国憲法の改正手続に関する法律が存在する。また地方自治制度では、自治体の住民を対象として一定の住民投票の制度が設けられている。

フランス:

フランスでは、為政者により、自身の統治を正当化することを目的とした国民投票が多用され、投票行為が人気投票・信任投票と化した国民投票を「プレビシット」と呼び、危険視している。通常の国民投票とプレビシットは、差別化して考えるべきであるという議論がある[9]

ナチス・ドイツ(1945年までの旧ドイツ)

1938年、アンシュルスにともなって行われた民族投票の投票用紙。「あなたは1938年3月13日に制定されたオーストリアとドイツ国の再統一に賛成し、我々の指導者アドルフ・ヒトラーの党へ賛成票を投じますか。」という設問で、「Ja(はい)」の項目が中央に大きく印刷されている。

ドイツでは、第一次世界大戦後に制定されたヴァイマル憲法下で直接民主制の要素が部分的に採用され、国民の請願や国会の議決で発議できる国民投票が制度化されていたが、ドイツ帝国構成諸国旧君主の財産接収ドイツ語版ヤング案受け入れ問題など野党が国民投票を利用した。

ナチス・ドイツ体制期の1933年7月14日には「民族投票法」が制定され、民族投票ドイツ語版制度が導入されたが、これは従来の国民投票と異なり、政府にしか発議権が存在しなかった[10]。民族投票はヒトラーの国家元首就任(総統)や国際連盟脱退、ラインラント進駐アンシュルスの際に行われた。これらはいずれも高い賛成票を得、ヒトラー政権の政策の正当性をアピールしたが、すべて事後に行われた投票であり、法的には信任投票程度の意味しか持たなかった。

ドイツ(1945年以降の西ドイツ、及び1990年以降のドイツ)

第二次世界大戦後のドイツ連邦共和国基本法にも国民投票の規定はあるが、国土の変更や憲法改正のみが対象となっている。

イギリス

2014年6月、イギリスとの分離独立について、2014年にスコットランドの独立を問う国民投票が行われたが、独立への反対票が有効票数の55.30%となり、分離独立は否決された。[8]

2016年6月、「欧州連合に残留するか・離脱するか」について国民投票が行われ、EU離脱派が51.89%となり、離脱が可決された。

スイス

議会の提案で憲法を改正する場合には、投票者の過半数が賛成していることと、賛成票数が過半数を越える州が、12.5州以上であることを同時に満たさねばならない。(準州は、0.5 州として計算される)。他にも、他国との条約の締結や、国際機構への加盟を批准する場合に、この方法が用いられている。国民の提案で憲法を改正する場合には、国民10万人の署名を集めることで憲法改正を議会に要求することができる。その後、国民による再審議を経てレファレンダムを行い、国民投票によって改正の可否を問うことができる。また、連邦議会によって議決された憲法以外の法案については、国民5万人の署名を集めることで、国民はレファレンダムを行うことができる。レファレンダムでは、全ての国民に対し再審議を求めることができ、これを経て国民投票を行う。投票終了後の開票結果が、その法案に対する議決となる。

スイスのレファレンダムと国民投票を主導するのは、議会ではなく国民である。このような参政権の形態はイニシアティブ(国民発議)と呼ばれている。[11]。日本をはじめ、他の国の間接民主制でいう国民投票と大きく異なる点は、議会が国民投票を主導しないことと、国民投票で議決された事項を、再び国民投票にはかるためのイニシアティブ(国民発議)の制度が定着していることである。

 

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Wikipedia-② 5つ星運動政党 英語

Five Star Movement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Five Star Movement
Movimento 5 Stelle
Political head Luigi Di Maio
President Beppe Grillo[1]
Founders Beppe Grillo
Gianroberto Casaleggio
Founded 4 October 2009
Headquarters Via Ceccardo Roccatagliata Ceccardi 1/14, Genoa
Newspaper beppegrillo.it
Membership (2016) 135,023[2]
Ideology Populism
Anti-establishment
Direct democracy
E-democracy
Environmentalism
Euroscepticism[discuss]
Non-interventionism
Degrowth
Political position Big tent
National affiliation none
European affiliation none
International affiliation none
European Parliament group Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy
Colours      Yellow      White      Red
Chamber of Deputies

88 / 630

Senate

35 / 315

European Parliament

15 / 73

Regional Government

0 / 20

Website
www.movimento5stelle.it

The Five Star Movement (ItalianMovimento 5 Stelle [moviˈmento ˈtʃiŋkwe ˈstelle]M5S) is a political party in Italy.

The M5S was started by Beppe Grillo, a popular comedian and blogger, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist, on 4 October 2009.[3] After Casaleggio’s death in April 2016, Grillo appointed a Directorate composed of five leading MPs (Alessandro Di BattistaLuigi Di MaioRoberto Fico, Carla Ruocco, Carlo Sibilia),[4] which lasted until the following October, when Grillo dissolved it and proclaimed himself “political head.”[5] Formally speaking, Grillo is also president of the association named “Five Star Movement,” with his nephew Enrico Grillo vice president and his accountant Enrico Maria Nadasi secretary.[1] Davide Casaleggio, Gianroberto’s son, has an increasingly important, albeit unofficial role.[6][7][8]

On 21–22 September 2017 the Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies, Luigi Di Maio was elected in an on-line primary election, with 82% of votes, candidate to the premiership and “political head” of the movement, replacing Grillo as leader of the M5S.[9][10]

The M5S is variously considered populist,[11][12]anti-establishment,[12][13]environmentalist,[14]anti-globalist,[15]and Eurosceptic.[16] Grillo himself provocatively once referred to it as “populist”.[17] Its members stress that the M5S is not a party but a “movement” and it may not be included in the traditional left-right paradigm. The “five stars” are a reference to five key issues for the party: public watersustainable transportsustainable developmentright to Internet access, and environmentalism. The party also advocates e-democracydirect democracy,[18] the principle of “zero-cost politics”,[19]degrowth,[20] and nonviolence.[21] In foreign policy, the M5S has disapproved military interventions of the West in the Greater Middle East (AfghanistanIraq,[22]Libya) as well as any notion of American intervention in Syria.[23]

At the 2013 general election the M5S was the most voted party (excluding Italians abroad) for the Chamber of Deputies,[24] but obtained just 109 deputies out of 630 due to the fact it refuses to form a coalition and was third if it were counted as a coalition.[25]

In the European Parliament the M5S has been part of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group, along with the UK Independence Party and minor right-wing parties, since the 2014 European Parliament election. In January 2017 M5S members voted in favor of Grillo’s proposal to join the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group, but the party was eventually refused[26] and, as a result, it has continued to be part of the EFDD group.

Two party members, Virginia Raggi[27] and Chiara Appendino, were elected mayors of Rome and Turin, respectively, in 2016.

History[edit]

Meetups[edit]

On 16 July 2005 Beppe Grillo offered supporters of the proposals submitted to his blog to adopt social networks, such as Meetup, to communicate and coordinate local meetings. Coordination of activists through meetups had already been adopted in 2003 by Howard Dean during the campaign for the primaries of the Democratic Party of the United States.[28] This is how the first 40 “Friends of Beppe Grillo” meetups started, with the initial aim, according to the same Grillo, to “have fun, get together and share ideas and proposals for a better world, starting from one’s own city. And discuss and develop, if you believe, my posts”.[29]Within the meetup one creates thematic working groups on topics including “technology and innovation”, “press-communication”, “ethical consumerism“, “currency study”, “no incinerators”.[30][31] It is from these experiences that Grillo was asked to stand for the primaries for the selection of the Prime Ministerial candidate of the centre-left coalition The Union, that were scheduled for October 2005.[32]

On three occasions -17 December in Turin, 26 March in Piacenza and 16 to 18 June in Sorrento– the representatives of the “Friends of Beppe Grillo” meetup held national meetings in the presence of Grillo. In these circumstances, proposals mostly regarding environmental issues were discussed, such as the replacement of polluting incinerators with systems applying mechanical-biological waste treatment.[33]

During the fourth national meeting held in Genoa on 3 February 2007, Beppe Grillo announced his desire to provide local Meetup activists an autonomous space within the shows of his tour.

On 14 July 2007, the representatives of some civic lists participating in local elections the previous spring met in Parma to establish a national coordination between “associations, movements, organizations and civic lists practicing, promoting and experimenting direct and participatory democracy”, and share a document of intent that, amongst its main objectives, included the establishment of proposal and repeal referendums, the direct election of the Ombudsman, the institution of participatory budgeting, a “bound” mandate for public administrators and open primaries.

V-Days[edit]

V-Day in Bologna, in 2007.

On 14 June 2007 Beppe Grillo launched the idea of Vaffanculo Day (Fuck-off Day), or simply V-Day, a day of public mobilisation for the collection of signatures required to submit a law of popular initiative that seeks to introduce preferences in the current electoral law and to prevent the nomination as Parliamentary candidates of recipients of criminal convictions or of those who have already completed two terms in office.[34] The meeting was held in Bologna.

The choice of the name of the event, V-Day, had a fourfold reference: the first to the Normandy landings of the Allies in Normandy during World War II, to symbolise how Italian citizens would “invade” bad policy; the second to the motion pictureV for Vendetta” (whose symbol is also referred to in the logo of the movement) which the movement refers to often with its principles of political renewal; the third to the interjection “Fuck you” given to bad policy. The fourth is a reference to the number five as a Roman numeral.

V-Day, which continued the “Clean Parliament” initiative promoted by Beppe Grillo since 2006, took place in many Italian cities the following 8 September, the date chosen to evoke the state of confusion besetting the state, as at the 8 September 1943 Badoglio Proclamation. On that day 336,000 signatures were collected, far exceeding the 50,000 required for the filing of a law of popular initiative. For the occasion, Michele Serra coined the term “grillismo“.[35]

V2-Day was organised for 25 April 2008, a second day of action aimed at collecting signatures for three referendums. On 29 and 30 September 2007 in Lucca, several members of the meetups and local civic lists, in the initial wake of the discussions started on the net and in the wake of the previous meeting of Perugia, define the policies for the establishment of civic lists. On 10 October 2007 Grillo gives guidance on how to create the civic lists.[36]

Five Star civic lists[edit]

On 3 December 2008, Grillo presented the symbol of the Five Star Civic Lists for the local elections of 2009. Logo in the “V” of “citizenship” is a reference to V-Day[37] In Bologna, on 17 February 2009, a gathering of civic lists discussed the future of the movement and the coming elections; in particular, Sonia Alfano consulted with the activist base of the movement about her possible candidacy for the European Parliament as an independent candidate with the Italy of Valueslist.

On 8 March 2009, the first national meeting of the Five Star Civic Lists was held in Florence. Here Beppe Grillo had the Charter of Florence, bone joint 12-point program of the various local civic lists in the afternoon, about twenty local groups present their ideas and experiences. In April Grillo announced a letter of Nobel Prize winner in economics Joseph Stiglitz in which he declares to look carefully at the experience of local civic lists promoted through the blog[38]

On 29 March 2009, Grillo announced that in the upcoming European elections he would support Luigi de Magistris and Sonia Alfano, figures close to the movement, as independent candidates in the lists of Italy of Values, together with the journalist Carlo Vulpio, also close to the movement[39] On 11 June, De Magistris and Alfano, candidates in all five constituencies, were elected to the European Parliament, resulting in the first and second preferences (of 419 000 and 143 000). In the same election, as stated by Beppe Grillo, 23 councilors were elected from the Five Star Civic Lists, especially in the municipalities of Emilia-Romagna in central Italy[40]

On 9 September 2009, the launch of the “National Five Star Movement”, inspired by the ideologies of the Charter of Florence’, was announced[41]

Along with Gianroberto Casaleggio at the Emerald Theatre in Milan on 4 October 2009, Beppe Grillo declared the birth of the Five Star Movement and presented a programme.[42]

2010–2012 regional and local elections[edit]

During the 2010 regional elections the M5S obtained notable results in the five regions where it ran a candidate for President: Giovanni Favia gained 7.0% of the vote in Emilia-Romagna (6.0% for the list, 2 regional councillors elected), Davide Bono 4.1% in Piedmont (3.7%, 2 councillors), David Borrelli 3.2% in Veneto(2.6%, no councillors), Vito Crimi 3.0% in Lombardy (2.3%, no councillors) and Roberto Fico 1.3% in Campania (1.3%, no councillors).[43]

At the local elections on 15 and 16 May 2011, the Movement occurs in 75 of the 1,177 municipalities in the vote,[44] including 18 of the 23 provincial capitals called to vote. In the first round the Movement enters its representatives in 28 municipalities (for a total of 34 elected councilors) and often resulting in some important decisive ballots[45] The best results are in the cities and towns of the center-north, especially in Emilia-Romagna (where the list gets between 9 and 12% in BolognaRimini and Ravenna) and Piedmont, while in the south rarely exceeds 2% of the vote.

Regional elections in Molise on 16 and 17 October 2011 had its own candidate for the presidency and its own list, the list received 2.27% of the votes and the presidential candidate the 5.60% of the vote, but no seats[46]

At the 2012 local elections the M5S did well in several cities of the North, notably in Genoa (14.1%),[47]Verona (9.5%),[48]Parma (19.9%),[49]Monza (10.2%),[50] and Piacenza (10.0%).[51] In the small Venetian town of Sarego, the M5S’s candidate was elected mayor with 35.2% of the vote (there is no run-off in towns with less than 15,000 inhabitants).[52] In the run-offs the party won the mayorships of Parma (60.2%),[49]Mira (52.5%),[53] and Comacchio (69.2%).[54]

After the election, the party consistently scored around 15-20% nationally in opinion polls, frequently ahead of The People of Freedom and second just to the Democratic Party (see 2013 general election).

At the Sicilian regional elections of 2012 the M5S fielded Giancarlo Cancelleri as candidate. The campaign kicked off with Grillo’s arrival in Messina on 10 October swimming from the mainland.[55][56] In the election Cancelleri came third with 18.2% of the vote, while the M5S was the most voted party with 14.9%, obtaining 15 seats out of 90 in the Regional Assembly, in a very fragmented political landscape.[57] The election was however characterized by a low participation as only 47.4% of eligible voters effectively turned out to vote.[58]

2013 general election[edit]

On 29 October 2012, Grillo announced the guidelines for standing as party candidates in the 2013 general election.[59][60] For the first time in Italy, the candidates were chosen by party members through an online primary between 3 and 6 December.[61]

On 12 December 2012, Grillo expelled two leading members from the party: Giovanni Favia, regional councillor of Emilia-Romagna, and Federica Salsi, municipal councillor in Bologna, due to infringing the rules of the political party. The former had talked about the lack of democracy within the party, while the latter had taken part in a political talk show on Italian television, something that was discouraged and later forbidden by Grillo.[62]

On 22 February 2013, a large crowd of 800,000 people attended the final rally of Beppe Grillo before the 2013 general election, in Piazza San Giovanni in Rome.[63] On 24 and 25 February 2013, M5S contested all Italian constituencies: Beppe Grillo was listed as head of the coalition, although he was not an electoral candidate.

The vote for M5S in the Chamber of Deputies reached 25.55% of the vote in Italy and 9.67% for overseas voters, for a total of 8,784,499 votes, making it the second most voted list after the Democratic Party (which acquired 25.42% of the votes in Italy and 29.9% abroad, or 8,932,615 votes), obtaining 108 deputies. The M5S vote for the Senate was 23.79% in Italy and 10% abroad, for a total of 7,375,412 votes, second only to the PD (which garnered 8,674,893 votes), obtaining 54 Senators. This was a successful election for M5S as the party gained a higher share of the vote than was expected by any of the opinion polls. The M5S won 25.6% of the vote for the Chamber of Deputies, more than any other single party. However, both the Italy Common Good centre-left coalition, centred on the Democratic Party, and the centre-right alliance, centred on The People of Freedom, obtained more votes as coalitions.[64][65] The M5S was the largest party in the AbruzzoMarcheLiguriaSicily and Sardinia.[46]

On 21 March 2013 Luigi Di Maio was elected Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies with 173 votes. Aged 26, he was the youngest Vice President of the house to date.[66][67][68]

2014 European election[edit]

Competing its first European election, M5S won second place at the national level 2014 European Parliament elections, receiving 21.15% of the vote, returning 17 MEPs.[69]

Beppe Grillo addressed the crowd in Rome, 2014.

In the run-up to the 8th parliamentary term, M5S was lacking a European affiliation and sought a European parliament group. Initial negotiations were held with Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) co-president Nigel Farage and The Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA).[70][71] However, on 4 June 2014, The Greens/EFA rejected Grillo’s attempts to obtain group membership.[72] On 11 June 2014, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group rejected M5S as a potential affiliate in a statement citing M5S’s perceived Euroscepticism and populism.[73] In an online referendum offered to M5S members on 12 June 2014, the choice of European parliament affiliation offered were Europe of Freedom and Democracy(EFD), the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), or to become Non-Inscrits.[74] Party activists voted by 78.1% to join the EFD group.[75] On 18 June 2014, it was announced that the EFD group had enough MEPs to continue into the 8th European Parliament term.[76] On 24 June 2014, M5S MEP David Borrelli was chosen as the group’s new co-president and the EFD group name was amended to Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) for the upcoming parliament.[77][78] The EFDD group lost its official group status on 16 October 2014 after the defection of Latvian MEP Iveta Grigule, until Polish MEP Robert Iwaszkiewicz joined the group four days later.[79]

On 17 November 2015, after an online poll in which 40,995 people took part, the movement changed its logo to replace the URL of co-founder Beppe Grillo (beppegrillo.it) with the official movement URL.[80] The other option was to remove Grillo’s URL entirely, replacing it with nothing. The grounds of the removal of Grillo’s name was “the 5 Star Movement is mature enough and is preparing to govern Italy, so I believe it’s correct not to associate it to a name anymore”.[81]

Casaleggio’s death[edit]

The movement’s founder and main strategist Gianroberto Casaleggio died on 12 April 2016 in Milan, at the age of 61, after a long period of illness, due to a brain cancer.[82] After his death, his son Davide was appointed as the president of “Casaleggio Associati” and increase took the office of his father as leader and strategist of the M5S.[83]

Ideology[edit]

In the Five Star Movement converge themes derived from ecological and anti-particracy promoting the direct participation of citizens in the management of public affairs through forms of digital democracy. The movement wants to be a “democratic encounter outside of party and associative ties and without the mediation of directive or representational organisms, recognising to all users of the Internet the role of government and direction that is normally attributed to a few”.[84] From the economic point of view, it embraces the theories of degrowth, supporting the creation of “green jobs” and the rejection of polluting and expensive “great works”, including incinerators and high-speed rail, aiming to an overall better quality of life and greater social justice.[85] The Five Star Movement proposes the adoption of large-scale energy projects, elimination of waste, sustainable mobility, protection of territory from overbuilding, teleworking.[86] The movement’s political discourse often refers to the Internet as a solution to many social, economic, and environmental problems. This approach bears similarities with North-American cyber-utopianism and the Californian Ideology.[87]

Direct democracy[edit]

The movement bases its principles on direct democracy as an evolution of representative democracy. The idea is that citizens will no longer delegate their power to parties, considered old and corrupted intermediates between the State and themselves, that serve the interests of lobby groups and financial powers. They will succeed only by creating a collective intelligence made possible by the internet.[84]

The Five Star Movement, in order to go in this direction, chose its Italian and European parliamentary candidates through online voting by registered members of Beppe Grillo’s Blog.[88][89] Through an application called “Rousseau” reachable on the web,[90] the registered users of M5S discuss, approve or reject legislative proposals (submitted then in the Parliament by the M5S group). For example, the M5S electoral law was shaped through a series of online voting,[91] like the name of the M5S candidate for President of the Republic.[92] The choice to support the abolition of a law against immigrants was taken online by members of the M5S even if the final decision was against the opinion of Grillo and Casaleggio.[93] The partnership with the UK Independence Party was also decided by online voting, although the given options for the choice of European Parliament group for M5S were limited to: Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD), European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and “Stay independent” (Non-Inscrits). The option of joining the Greens/EFA group was discussed, but this option was not available at the time of the voting, due to that group’s prior rejection of the M5S.[72][94]

Politics is not a career[edit]

One of the most important rules of M5S is that politics is a temporary service: no one who has already been elected twice at any level (local or national) can be a candidate again and has to go back to his or her original job.[84] Another feature of the movement is the so-called “zero-cost politics”,[19] according to which politics must not become a career and way to make money. Belonging to the Movement requires the self-reduction of salaries of the citizens elected.[95][96] The movement also rejects campaign contributions. In the regional elections in Sicily in 2012, the Sicilian wing of the M5S also decided to allocate the money saved by the reduction of the salaries of their elected in a fund for micro-credit to help small and medium enterprises.[97] In the general elections of 2013 the Five Star Movement claimed to have rejected over €42 million of public electoral refunds,[98] supporting its expenses for the campaign with crowdfunding through the blog.[99][100]

No criminal records[edit]

In order to be Five Star Movement candidates, citizens must be without any criminal records.[84] The party also supports initiatives to ban politicians with criminal records from being elected. Among the greater political battles of M5S is the ethical commitment to a greater simplicity and transparency to counter the practice of holding two or more positions,[101][102] which show the intricate conflicts of interest between any organization, subsequently strengthened by public register[103] to avoid centralizations that are nepotistic and clientelistic.[104] The no-criminal-record rule currently prevents the Five Star Movement’s founder, Beppe Grillo, from running for office, in view of an old conviction for manslaughter. The court found Grillo guilty because he was the driver in a car crash.

Same-sex marriage[edit]

The leader of the movement, Grillo, on 15 July 2012 publicly expressed his support for same-sex marriage[105] while the subject was discussed in the National Assembly.[106] In offering his support to marriage between homosexual citizens Grillo broke his silence on the subject, because observers speculated about him opposing this issue.[107]

On 28 October 2014, an online referendum took place among the activists of the Five Star Movement on the recognition of same-sex civil partnerships: 21,360 voted yes and 3,908 voted no.[108] In February 2016, the M5S decided not to officially back the proposal of recognition of stepchild adoption for same sex civil partnerships, refusing to take an official stand and gave its parliamentarians freedom of vote on the matter.[109]

No alliances[edit]

Grillo’s campaign has an unwillingness to form alliances, as a result of his own refusal to be associated or characterized as any of the older political families including the centre-left and centre-right. As the government itself is made up of both centre-left and centre-right parties, the 5 Star Movement has had difficulties coming to agreement with any of the other parties. Despite the different views within the party, the issues on which the movement agrees keep the party intact through advocating the main five principles of the 5 Star Movement.[110]

Immigration[edit]

The Five Star Movement’s position on immigration has been ambiguous, however Grillo wrote on his blog on 23rd December 2016, that all undocumented immigrants should be expelled from Italy, that Schengen should be temporarily suspended in the event of a terrorist attack until the threat has been removed, and that there should be revision of the Dublin regulation. [111][112] On 21st April 2017, Grillo published a piece questioning the role that NGOs operating rescue ships off Libya are playing in the migrant crisis, asking where are they getting their money and strongly suggesting they may be aiding traffickers. [113] On 5th August 2017, Luigi Di Maio, who is expected to lead the Five Star movement in the 2018 election, called for “an immediate stop to the sea-taxi service” bringing migrants to Europe. [114]

Criticism[edit]

During the 2010 Italian elections, some parties highlighted a contradiction between the voluntary collective action in the struggles of civil society and openness in political representation[115][116][117] Also in 2010, there were tensions between the movement and Italy of Values.[118]

Beppe Grillo (on the right) with Giovanni Favia (on the left), who was expelled from the movement in 2011.

In March 2012 the city councillor in Rimini Valentino Tavolazzi advocated a national meeting on behalf of the movement,[119][120] which gathered about 150 participants. At the meeting there was both praise and criticism from the participants including from the few politicians who were present at the convention.[121] The meeting took a harsh stance on the “conditions of Regulation M5S” because it was discovered to be in conflict with the statutes of its Civic Party of origin “Project for Ferrara”. In response they lost the use of the logo[122][123] and were banned from taking any position on behalf of M5S, which was portrayed as a controversial move regarding internal democracy.[124][125][126]

Since 2007 Grillo has criticized the cost of politics by supporting the reduction of payment for deputies and senators.[127]Based on this policy, the benefits received by members of parliament would not exceed € 5,000 gross per month, with any surplus returned to the State with solidarity allowance (also called end-term). According to the regional director of the Five Star Movement Giovanni Favia, the deduction of € 5,000 gross salary of parliamentarians is, however, contrary to the principles of the movement, as it would result in a reduction of only € 2,500 net. In an interview which was published in several newspapers in November 2012, Favia estimated at € 11,000 per month the fees prescribed for a member of M5S, even though it does not explain how it got to deduct that amount because it necessarily includes reimbursements and per diem is not flat, as costs and expenses which vary from member to member.[128]

Following the expulsion of Giovanni Favia and Federica Salsi for expressing views about the lack of internal democracy, the party has expelled several members for criticisms.[129][130] The expulsions were made unilaterally by Beppe Grillo and, as per regulation, took place without prior consultation with members of the movement.[131][132][133]

Another criticism frequently made by the same movement activists and former activists, such as Federico Pistono, social entrepreneur and author of Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That’s OK: How to Survive the Economic Collapse and Be Happy and the former member,[134] is about the absence of any form of effective participation on the web.[135] There is a tool for collective writing of the program and the proposed laws, but the forum is considered inadequate for the purpose.[136][137] Through his blog, in September 2012, Grillo said that a portal to participate via the web was already under construction.[138] The triggering was scheduled for the end of the year 2012, but at the time of the elections of February 2013 it was not yet realized.

On 28 January 2014 Giorgio Sorial, a deputy of the M5S, accused President Giorgio Napolitano of being a hangman who repressed opponents.[139][140] Prime Minister Enrico Letta immediately defended President Napolitano, charging the M5S with being extremists.[141] The following day Angelo Tofalo, another deputy of the movement, ended his speech at the Chamber of Deputies by shouting Boia Chi Molla! (hangman who gives up!) a famous motto used during the Fascist era.[142][143] Often the movement’s members, especially its leader Beppe Grillo, have been accused of being too vulgar and (verbally) violent.[144][145]

After a Five Star Movement demonstration inside the Chamber of Deputies against a law approved by the government,[146][147] caused a brawl between the M5S, the centrist Civic Choice, the right-wing Brothers of Italy and the centre-left Democratic Party.[148] Following insults to the President of the Chamber of Deputies Laura Boldrini,[149] on 31 January 2014 Corrado Augias, a famous Italian journalist, stated that the violence used by the M5S reminded him of fascism.[150] The following day a militant activist of the Five Star Movement burned some books of Augias and uploaded the photos to his Facebook profile, because according to him “Augias offended the movement”.[151] This episode was readily taken up by major national newspapers and heavily criticized by public opinion, due to some similarities with Nazi book burnings.[152] Beppe Grillo criticized the action, saying that the person who uploaded the photos didn’t represent the Movement.[153]

Electoral results[edit]

Italian Parliament[edit]

Chamber of Deputies
Election year # of
overall votes
 % of
overall vote
# of
overall seats won
+/– Leader
2013 8,799,982 (#2) 25.1

109 / 630

Beppe Grillo
Senate of the Republic
Election year # of
overall votes
 % of
overall vote
# of
overall seats won
+/– Leader
2013 7,285,648 (#2) 23.8

54 / 315

Beppe Grillo

European Parliament[edit]

Election year # of
overall votes
 % of
overall vote
# of
overall seats won
+/– Leader
2014 5,807,362 (#2) 21.2

17 / 73

Beppe Grillo

Regional Councils[edit]

Region Latest election # of
overall votes
 % of
overall vote
# of
overall seats won
# of
overall current seats
Abruzzo 2014 143,779 (#2) 21.4

6 / 31

5 / 31

Aosta Valley 2013 4,773 (#6) 6.6

2 / 35

2 / 35

Apulia 2015 275,114 (#2) 16.3

7 / 51

8 / 51

Basilicata 2013 21,219 (#3) 9.0

2 / 21

2 / 21

Calabria 2014 38,345 (#8) 4.9

0 / 30

0 / 30

Campania 2015 387,327 (#3) 17.0

7 / 49

7 / 49

Emilia-Romagna 2014 159,456 (#3) 13.3

5 / 50

5 / 50

Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2013 54,952 (#3) 13.8

5 / 49

5 / 49

Lazio 2013 467,249 (#3) 16.6

7 / 50

7 / 50

Liguria 2015 120,147 (#2) 22.9

6 / 30

5 / 30

Lombardy 2013 775,211 (#3) 14.3

9 / 80

9 / 80

Marche 2015 100,202 (#2) 18.9

5 / 30

4 / 30

Molise 2013 20,437 (#2) 12.2

2 / 21

2 / 21

Piedmont 2014 396,295 (#2) 20.3

8 / 50

8 / 50

Sardinia 2014 N/A N/A

0 / 60

0 / 60

Sicily 2012 285,202 (#1) 14.9

15 / 90

14 / 90

South Tyrol 2013 7,097 (#7) 2.5

1 / 35

1 / 35

Trentino 2013 13,877 (#6) 5.8

2 / 35

1 / 35

Tuscany 2015 200,771 (#3) 15.1

5 / 41

5 / 41

Umbria 2015 51,203 (#2) 14.5

2 / 20

2 / 20

Veneto 2015 192,630 (#4) 10.4

5 / 51

5 / 51

Total

97 / 917

Leadership[edit]

Symbols[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Bigi Alessandro, Bonera Michelle, Bal Anjali (2015) Evaluating political party positioning over time: a proposed methodology. Journal of Public affairs, DOI: 10.1002
  • De Rosa, Rosanna (2013). Voice of the People or Cybercratic Centralism? The Italian case of Beppe Grillo and Movimento Cinque Stelle. Edition Donau-Universität Krems. pp. 89–102.
  • Lanzone, Maria Elisabetta (2014). The “Post-Modern” Populism in Italy: The Case of the Five Star Movement. Emerald Group. pp. 53–78.
  • Musiani, Francesca (2014). Avant-garde: Digital Movement or “Digital Sublime” Rhetoric? The Movimento 5 Stelle and the 2013 Italian Parliamentary Elections. Springer. pp. 127–140.
  • Sæbø, Øystein; Braccini, Alession Maria; Federici, Tommaso (2015). From the Blogosphere into Real Politics: The Use of ICT by the Five Star Movement