The Guardian view on Italy’s divided opposition: a Five Star revolution can help unite the left | Editorial

Ppoliticians long ago argued that a defining characteristic of populism is the distinction between ‘pure people’ and ‘corrupt elites’. In the tumultuous politics of the early 21st century, few public figures have promoted this worldview with as much energy and impact as the Italian comedian Beppe Grillo.

In 2010 Mr. Grillo’s Five Star Movement (M5S) got up at one point the most successful and quixotic populist party in Europe, taking first place in the 2018 Italian elections. by a comfortable margin. Its main principles were the belief in the power of direct democracy and the belief that traditional left-right politics should be replaced by a popular revolt against la casta – the privileged elite whose power is preserved regardless of the ruling government. People power was mobilized through the Russo party platform, designed as a forum for online democracy by M5S co-founder and internet evangelist Gianroberto Casaleggio.

Heady days, but that was then. This month, the power of direct democracy was unleashed against Mr. Grillo himself. At a seismic conference, the members chose to remove him from his €300,000-a-year post as a “guarantor” of the party’s values. They also agreed to define M5S politics as belonging to the progressive left and remove the two-term limit for MPs, allowing some of the more impressive performers to run for re-election.

A furious Mr Grillo successfully pushed for a repeat vote this week. But the indicated direction of movement seems irreversible. M5S poll ratings have fallen sharply in recent years. Erratic decisions to form a governing coalition with the radical right and then with the center-left, and a major separation regarding aid to Ukraine, took theirs.

But the party remains a significant force in Italy’s divided opposition, whose inability to unite paved the way for Giorgia Meloni to take power two years ago. Party leader Giuseppe Conte is against Mr Grillo’s wishes determined to position M5S as a more conventional progressive party. In 2022 she campaigned to the left of the Democratic Party (PD) on issues such as citizens’ incomes and the minimum wage.

The fall of Mr. Grillo, rejected by the movement he created with such remarkable effect, carries an element of pathos. But under his dominant influence, the M5S has become a fickle and strange political animal, union at one point with Nigel Farage’s Ukip in the European Parliament. Although he took more distanced In recent years, the claim to be “beyond” ideology has often masked a tendency to decide politics according to Mr. Grillo’s personal preferences.

Mr Conte’s coup, assuming it is confirmed, opens up the possibility of a more dynamic, united and powerful broad left in Italian politics. M5S’s opposition to military aid to Ukraine could become a complicating factor in future national elections. But a political reorientation, channeling some of the grassroots idealism that accompanied the party’s rise, could be a game-changer.

As with other sister movements of the European center-left movement, the PD has become too associated with the interests of the urban middle class, while populist parties flourish disproportionately on the radical right. A renewed M5S, without Beppe Grillo, can begin to redress the balance.