Five Star Movement
Movimento 5 Stelle |
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Guarantor | Beppe Grillo |
Leader | Luigi Di Maio |
Founders |
Beppe Grillo Gianroberto Casaleggio |
Founded | 4 October 2009 |
Headquarters | Via Nomentana 257, Rome, Italy |
Newspaper | Il Blog delle Stelle |
Membership (2016) | 135,023 |
Ideology |
Populism Anti-establishment Direct democracy E-democracy Environmentalism Euroscepticism |
Political position | Big tent |
National affiliation | Government of Change (2018–present) |
European affiliation | None |
International affiliation | None |
European Parliament group | Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy |
Colours | Yellow White |
Chamber of Deputies |
222 / 630
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Senate |
109 / 315
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European Parliament |
14 / 73
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Regional Presidents |
0 / 20
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Regional Councils |
113 / 897
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Website | |
movimento5stelle.it | |
The Five Star Movement (Italian: Movimento 5 Stelle [moviˈmento ˈtʃiŋkwe ˈstelle], M5S) is a political party in Italy. The M5S was started on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a popular comedian and blogger; and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist. After Casaleggio's death in April 2016, Grillo appointed a directorate composed of five leading MPs (Alessandro Di Battista, Luigi Di Maio, Roberto Fico, Carla Ruocco and Carlo Sibilia), which lasted until the following October when Grillo dissolved it and proclaimed himself the "political head" of the M5S. Grillo is also formally president of the association named Five Star Movement; his nephew, Enrico Grillo, serves as vice president; and his accountant, Enrico Maria Nadasi, as secretary.Davide Casaleggio, Gianroberto's son, has an increasingly important albeit unofficial role.
The M5S is variously considered populist,anti-establishment,environmentalist,alter-globalist and Eurosceptic. The party has also been described as New Right and accused of being right-wing due to its anti-immigration stance despite its promotion of policies usually advocated by Italian left-wingers, such as citizen's income and green policies. Grillo himself provocatively once referred to it as "populist". 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 water, sustainable transport, sustainable development, right to Internet access and environmentalism. The party also advocates e-democracy, direct democracy, the principle of "zero-cost politics",degrowth and nonviolence. In foreign policy, the M5S has criticized military interventions of the West in the Greater Middle East (Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya) as well as any notion of American intervention in Syria.