The Italian Foreign Minister, Luigi gave Mayannounced this Tuesday that he is leaving the 5 Star Movement (M5S) after several disagreements with its leader and former prime minister, Giuseppe Countsuch as sending weapons to Ukrainethus forcing the split of the party as several dozen parliamentarians are willing to follow him.
After a day of tensions, Di Maio, who was in charge of the M5S from his birth in 2009 to 2021summoned the media to a hotel in Rome to announce that he and several colleagues, without saying the number, were leaving their party and starting a new path.
The tensions between Di Maio and the party leadership, in particular with Counthave been going on for a long time and have several reasons, but the main one that seems to have forced the rupture is the opposition of the latter and a part of the M5S to sending more weapons to Ukraine without, at least, parliamentary approval.
“Necessarily, we had to choose which side of history to be on: with an attacked Ukraine or with the aggressor, Russia. The positions of some M5S leaders risked weakening our country,” he added.
Di Maio assured that given the situation that is being experienced due to the war in Ukraine, “a united Europe is needed and this depends on there being united governments” and for this reason “it was necessary to support the Government, leaving the controversies behind”.
irresponsible moves
He criticized some members of the M5S who behaved “as irresponsible” at a time like this when it was necessary to support “Europeanist and Atlanticist” values.
Say May he does not seem to have the intention of submitting his resignation as foreign minister and it does not seem that the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, accepts his departure at this time.
The one who was the “prodigy boy” of the M5S and the youngest foreign minister in Italian history announced the formation of a new group that will be called “Together for the future” with representation in the Chamber of Deputies and that will be part of the group mixed in the Senate.
Though parliamentarians leaving the M5S have yet to be countedas Di Maio announced, the party will no longer be the largest parliamentary group and will become Matteo Salvini’s far-right League.
Some analysts explain that Di Maio’s decision would also weigh the intervention of the founder of the M5S, the comedian Beppe Grillo, who decided to support Conte, in limiting the members of the movement to two terms, which would make Di Maio out of game in the next elections, scheduled for 2023.
For years the M5S has been going through crises and divisions, but the confrontation had remained to a certain extent latent until last week, when Di Maio harshly criticized Conte due to the dismal results of the municipal elections.
Council meeting
On Sunday night, a meeting of the National Council of the M5S was held, one of the various executive bodies of the party made up of various representatives such as the presidents of the parliamentary groups, which issued an equally harsh statement on Di Maio, accusing him of having brought “serious disrepute to the entire political community of M5S” and even circulated the possibility of expelling him
Today Di Maio, after four uninterrupted years as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Labor, Economic Development and Vice President of the Government, left the M5S, but it does not seem that this could affect the Government since the new group will continue to support Draghi.
In the event that, after what happened, the M5S decides to leave the government coalition, Draghi could still have the majority.
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