Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio
told Tuesday's Corriere della Sera that his 5-Star Movement
(M5S) must start over with humility after its poor showing in
Sunday's regional election in Umbria.
The anti-establishment M5S and the centre-left Democratic
Party (PD), who were fierce rivals until recently, teamed up for
the Umbria vote a bid to end a long series of victories in
regional elections by the League-led centre right.
They had formed a pact at the national level for a new
government in August after League leader Matteo Salvini pulled
the plug on the first government led by Premier Giuseppe Conte,
which was based on an alliance between the M5S and the League.
But the PD-M5S 'experiment' was given the thumbs down by
Umbrian voters, with centre-right candidate Donatella Tesei
claiming 57.55% of the vote, over 20 points more than Vincenzo
Bianconi, the candidate backed by the M5S and the PD.
Support for the M5S slumped to 7.41% from 14.6% in the
previous elections in the central region.
"I think great humility will be needed to start a fresh," Di
Maio told Corriere della Sera.
"We must have zero expectations and face the regional
elections like council elections, with the spirit of those who
want to give the citizens an opportunity to participate.
"All the various parts of the Movement agree on remaining in
the (national) government.
"Our aim must not change. It should be that of getting into
government with a majority that makes us autonomous (in power)
and enables us to truly put ourselves to the test.
"If we significantly improve the Italian people's quality of
life, perceptions of our proposals will improve too.
"Umbria was an experiment that did not work, full stop".
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