In previous elections, we didn’t see the disintegration of the centre-left we are seeing now, Della Porta continues, referring to the 2013 election which saw comedian Beppe Grillo’s M5S first emerge as a third force in Italian politics. In those elections, [the M5S] was the party that channelled discontent, including towards austerity policies imposed by the Monti government, supported by both the centre-left and centre-right. But it focused on environmental and ethical issues as opposed to issues of inequality and social justice like Podemos in Spain or Syriza in Greece.
Al Jazeera, 28.02.2018: Power to the People: Left-wing party challenges ‘racist logic’