A Change in Italian Politics: Beppe Grillo and the Five Star Movement

Beppe Grillo and his Five Star Movement’s success caused widespread surprise and speculation. Will this lead to a change in Italian politics? It was an unprecedented victory. Five Star Movement won most of the seats both in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate. It got the most number of votes in the Chamber, which was 25.5% of the overall and successfully winning 109 of the 630 Chamber seats available. In the Senate, it was second overall in the number of votes (7.3 million) and got 40% of the seats, equivalent to 54 of the 135 Senate seats. This meant that no party won the majority seats in the Senate, which could lead in the non-appointment of a Prime Minister. Even if the other major parties form a coalition, their numbers would not be enough to form the majority group, which is problematic, to say the least.

Who is Beppe Grillo?

His full name is Giuseppe Piero Grillo, nicknamed Beppe. He’s 64 years old  and was born in Genoa. He was trained as an accountant but veered away from that to be a successful actor, comedian, politician and blogger. He gained more fans via the Internet and his social media accounts, where his political views that he was not able to verbalize when he was still in front of the cameras, found a very captive audience. His political involvement in politics began in 2009 when he formed the Five Start Movement. Although he is the co-founder of this new political party, he insists that the party has no official leader and that he is only its representative in all political discussions.

Use of the social media platforms

Grillo is a political activist and he is tech-savvy. He knows that the Internet and several forms of social media could be his most powerful tools to present his political views, strange or sound or otherwise, have the potential to reach a very wide audience. Indeed, it was these tools that he used to form his party membership. Five Star Movement does not have an official headquarters. Nominations and selection of party candidates were done via the Internet, using an online ballot handled by the company owned by Gianberto Casaleggio, Grillo’s party co-founder. The final candidates came from all walks of life, representing a big slice of Italy’s society.

Grillo has many translations in Italian, one of which is “cricket” and the elected officials in the Five Star Movement are now called by many as “Grillini” or little crickets. One of the elected representatives of the party is just a 25-year old student, Marta Grande. A dialect poet has also been elected in the Upper House, while a mother and son tandem will sit in the Lower House. This just goes to show the wide range of society representatives the party attracted. Most of them were chosen by their resumes, which they posted online and the views they have on Italian politics and what reforms they wish to see implemented.

Right Time for Political Reforms?

Italian politics had gained a reputation for being corrupt in recent years. One of the party winners, Silvio Berlusconi is besieged by scandals and numerous cases. Italian citizens are tired of the empty promises and lavish political and government spendings that plunged the country deeply in debt.

The Five Star Movement’s platform seems to give Italians hope. It was named five stars to represent the five issues the party supports: free Internet access, sustainable mobility, public water, environmentalism and development. It is a champion of honesty in the government and eradicating corruption. It also supports direct democracy, which would bring back the practice of people directly voting on policy initiatives rather than through representatives. Grillo is also anti-euro. The party’s manifesto is freely available from their website.

What next?

This early criticisms about the party are coming out left, right and center. The uncertainty of the Italian political scenario at the moment has brought markets down. Even with the majority votes and seats won, the party and Beppe Grillo is still considered outsiders, but his very vocal views on the state of Italian politics give voice to the general public’s sentiments. His anti-government position endears him to the public and created many political enemies as well.

Grillo does not want to deal with the other parties and shuns the idea of a coalition. He said he is prepared to talk directly with the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano. He appears honest and transparent, characteristics that are lacking in the current set of politicians in the government.

Will his party be able to initiate the reforms? That remains to be seen. Grillo still refuses to deal with the other parties and said in an interview that “he will not support any new government” and that he expects new elections will be done as early as next year. But right now, he and his elected party members have to prove themselves not only in words but mainly in deeds.