Italy's opposition 5-Star breaks with co-founder Grillo

25/11/2024 12:11

        Italy's 5-Star Movement severed ties on Sunday with its co-founder, the comedian Beppe Grillo, a further step in turning what was once a radical protest movement into a more mainstream left-leaning force.
        
        In a series of reforms, 5-Star supporters also voted down a proposal to ban alliances with other parties, a move that could smooth relations with the main opposition Democratic Party (PD) and ultimately provide more of an electoral challenge to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition.
        
        Grillo, who helped to create the party in 2009, had retained a formal role as guarantor of its founding values, and an annual contract worth 300,000 euros ($313,000) as communications adviser.
        
        However, party members voted 63%-29% in favour of abolishing the guarantor role in a decision announced at the end of a two-day "constituent assembly" event focused on reforming its statutes.