The Economist (20200822) by calibre

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Language: eng
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Tags: news, The Economist
Publisher: calibre
Published: 2020-08-21T18:18:26.905000+00:00

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Welcome to politics

Italy’s populist Five Star Movement is becoming a more normal party

Meanwhile, the far-right populists of the Northern League are losing popularity

Aug 22nd 2020 | ROME

SOME SEE Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) as a destabilising force which, by refusing to ally itself with mainstream parties, logjammed Italian politics for years. Others see it as an eccentric but original group that genuinely cares about corruption, the environment and using digital technology to give ordinary people a voice in politics. Depending on which view you take, the online referendum of M5S’s members held on August 13th-14th was either a triumph or a disaster, because they ditched two of its core principles.

The M5S voted by four to one to modify a rule that limits members to a total of two terms in all elected offices. Henceforth, serving as a local councillor will not count—a change that will allow Virginia Raggi, the mayor of Rome and previously a city councillor, to run for a second term. The movement also voted 60% to 40% to drop its opposition to formal alliances with traditional parties, at least locally. That means M5S can link up with its government coalition partner, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), at municipal elections on September 20th-21st. The poll represents a step back from populism in a country that has been pioneering it ever since Silvio Berlusconi, a media tycoon, came to power in the 1990s.

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