Another Senator defected from the
ruling anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) on Thursday.
Senator Luigi Di Marzio left the movement and joined the
mixed caucus in the Upper House.
Di Marzio said he had been "de facto purged".
He said "faced with a de facto purging, which I cannot fail
to note and with the regret of separating myself from colleagues
of the highest integrity, in order to dispel all doubts, I
formalise my decision to join the mixed caucus," he said.
The latest defection came a week after two more Lower House
MPs left the M5S.
All told, the recent defections are now about eight.
Last Thursday Massimiliano De Toma and Rachele Silvestri
brought the number of recent defections from the party to at
least seven, not counting a Senator who was ejected for voting
against the 2020 budget bill.
The defections have upped pressure on leader and Foreign
Minister Luigi Di Maio in the wake of disappointing local
election results.
Several M5S lawmakers have defected to their former alliance
partners - Matteo Salvini's rightwing nationalist
League party.
The M5S is now in government with the centre-left Democratic
Party (PD), after Salvini's bid to force a snap election by
pulling the plug on the former alliance backfired last summer.
There has been speculation that some of the former M5S
members have been motivated by wanting to keep their seats in
any future election, or hang on to the half of their salaries
which they currently devolve to a small and medium-sized
business fund.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
