Italy&#39;s anti-establishment Five Star movement (M5S) has achieved a major breakthrough by winning&nbsp;Rome&#39;s mayoral election. 
 
The country&#39;s second biggest political force is a hard-to-describe broad church, resisting traditional categories of left and right and defined by its anti-establishment stance. 
 
 
How did it emerge? 
 
M5S was founded by comedian Beppe Grillo in 2009 as an alternative to established politicians and institutions in a country long blighted by corruption. 
 
It eschewed traditional political channels and the media for civic lists and citizen meet-ups, embracing the expletive &quot;vaffanculo&quot; (&quot;go screw yourself&quot;) as a political slogan. 
 
Co-founder Gianroberto Casaleggio, a communications entrepreneur considered the M5S&#39;s &quot;guru&quot; until his death in April, created a series of online platforms for &quot;direct democracy&quot;, and all the&nbsp;party&#39;s candidates are elected online. 
 
What does it want? 
 
The&nbsp;party&nbsp;is built on the dual pillars of mistrust of traditional politics and honesty of its members. 
 
It wants greater transparency, a reduction in political salaries, action in favour of the environment, a referendum on the euro, growth measures for small and medium businesses and free Internet for all. 
 
Populist or leftist? 
 
Although based on a similar mass rejection of the establishment as Spain&#39;s Podemos and Greece&#39;s Syriza, the M5S is not left-wing or anti-austerity. 
 
Grillo called for a &quot;clamp-down&quot; on humanitarian visas for asylum seekers in 2014. And the movement withdrew its support for gay civil unions in parliament earlier this year at the last minute, despite 80 per cent of its voting members favouring the bill. 
 
A government in waiting? 
 
The M5S made a sensational debut by scooping 25 per cent in the 2013 general election, becoming the second biggest political force in&nbsp;Italy&nbsp;behind the centre-left Democratic&nbsp;Party&nbsp;(PD) in one swoop. 
 
It hopes&nbsp;Rome&nbsp;will be a platform for a tilt at national power but its&nbsp;party organisation remains weak: it presented candidates for just 18 per cent of the 1,368 municipalities in the latest elections. 
 
How it operates: 
 
M5S&#39;s political novices, dubbed &quot;Grillini&quot; after founder Grillo, are struggling to make their voices heard in parliament: the movement refuses to form any alliances with its opponents and cold-shoulders mainstream media. 
 
Locally elected representatives are bound by a code of conduct that requires them to seek permission from the&nbsp;top&nbsp;for every important decision. 
 
The&nbsp;party&#39;s anti-corruption banner has also been blackened by allegations it struck deals with local mobsters in Naples in southern&nbsp;Italy, while preliminary probes have been launched&nbsp;into&nbsp;the M5S mayor of Parma in the north for abuse of office and his counterpart in coastal Livorno for fraud. 
 
Who follows the joker? 
 
Although he has officially distanced himself from politics and returned to the stand-up circuit, outspoken Grillo drew bad press last month with an off-colour joke on London&#39;s new Muslim mayor and his blog is still perceived as a voice box for the movement. 
 
Smart-suited Luigi Di Maio is tipped to replace him as the movement&#39;s figurehead but&nbsp;Rome&#39;s newly elected mayor Virginia Raggi is now equally well-placed to assume the role. 
 
(AFP)

It was founded by a comedian and one of their slogans has been 'vaffanculo' or 'go screw yourself'

Italy's anti-establishment Five Star movement (M5S) has achieved a major breakthrough by winning Rome's mayoral election. The country's second biggest political force is a hard-to-describe broad church, resisting traditional categories of left and right and defined by its anti-establishment stance. How did it emerge? M5S was founded by comedian Beppe Grillo in 2009 as an alternative to established politicians and institutions in a country long blighted by corruption. It eschewed traditional political channels and the media for civic lists and citizen meet-ups, embracing the expletive "vaffanculo" ("go screw yourself") as a political slogan. Co-founder Gianroberto Casaleggio, a communications entrepreneur considered the M5S's "guru" until his death in April, created a series of online platforms for "direct democracy", and all the party's candidates are elected online. What does it want? The party is built on the dual pillars of mistrust of traditional politics and honesty of its members. It wants greater transparency, a reduction in political salaries, action in favour of the environment, a referendum on the euro, growth measures for small and medium businesses and free Internet for all. Populist or leftist? Although based on a similar mass rejection of the establishment as Spain's Podemos and Greece's Syriza, the M5S is not left-wing or anti-austerity. Grillo called for a "clamp-down" on humanitarian visas for asylum seekers in 2014. And the movement withdrew its support for gay civil unions in parliament earlier this year at the last minute, despite 80 per cent of its voting members favouring the bill. A government in waiting? The M5S made a sensational debut by scooping 25 per cent in the 2013 general election, becoming the second biggest political force in Italy behind the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) in one swoop. It hopes Rome will be a platform for a tilt at national power but its party organisation remains weak: it presented candidates for just 18 per cent of the 1,368 municipalities in the latest elections. How it operates: M5S's political novices, dubbed "Grillini" after founder Grillo, are struggling to make their voices heard in parliament: the movement refuses to form any alliances with its opponents and cold-shoulders mainstream media. Locally elected representatives are bound by a code of conduct that requires them to seek permission from the top for every important decision. The party's anti-corruption banner has also been blackened by allegations it struck deals with local mobsters in Naples in southern Italy, while preliminary probes have been launched into the M5S mayor of Parma in the north for abuse of office and his counterpart in coastal Livorno for fraud. Who follows the joker? Although he has officially distanced himself from politics and returned to the stand-up circuit, outspoken Grillo drew bad press last month with an off-colour joke on London's new Muslim mayor and his blog is still perceived as a voice box for the movement. Smart-suited Luigi Di Maio is tipped to replace him as the movement's figurehead but Rome's newly elected mayor Virginia Raggi is now equally well-placed to assume the role. (AFP)

Raggi's party is called Five Star Movement, it is anything but

Voters in the Italian capital went to the polls on Sunday with all signs indicating that they will elect Virginia Raggi as the first female mayor of the Eternal City. 
 
Raggi, a 37-year-old lawyer and local councillor, has leapt from anonymity to become one of the best-known faces in Italian politics in the space of only a few months on the campaign trail. 
 
The telegenic Raggi, whose victory would be a blow for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, is the rising star of the populist Five Star movement (M5S), the anti-establishment party founded by comedian Beppe Grillo. 
 
Polling stations opened at 7:00 am and were set to close at 9:00 pm today. 
 
More than nine million voters are eligible to take part in Sunday&#39;s second round election in 126 communes, including Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin and Bologna. 
 
All eyes are on Five Star which has emerged as the best-supported opposition to the centre left, Democratic Party (PD)-led coalition of Prime Minister Renzi, and the stakes are extremely high for a movement that was only founded in 2009. 
 
With the ebullient Renzi&#39;s star waning slightly, success in Rome could provide a platform for a tilt at national power in general elections due in 2018. 
 
The PD also faces defeat in Italy&#39;s financial capital Milan and a tough challenge in Turin. 
 
&quot;We are witnessing a historic moment,&quot; Raggi said after the June 5 first round of voting, from which she emerged with 35 per cent of the vote, well ahead of her run-off rival, Roberto Giachetti (24 per cent). 
 
It was a remarkable achievement for a party with a very limited organisational apparatus and also for a woman who only entered politics five years ago. 
 
The&nbsp;move, she recently told AFP, was triggered by the birth of her son Matteo and her determination that he should not grow up in a city beset by the intertwined problems of failing public services and endemic corruption. 
 
Opposition to Italy&#39;s endemic cronyism and sleaze is the foundation of M5S&#39;s appeal to voters and the Roman electorate have had their fill of those in recent years. 
 
Landmark polls 
 
Dozens of local businessmen, officials and politicians are currently on trial for their involvement in a criminal network that ripped off the city to the tune of tens -&nbsp;if not hundreds -&nbsp;of millions. 
 
From stealing the funds allocated to get ethnic Roma children to school out of isolated camps, to paving the city&#39;s streets with wafer-thin surfaces, scams abounded for years, according to prosecutors, in what is known as the Mafia Capitale scandal. 
 
Renzi has sought to minimise the implications of the results of the election repeating that the &quot;mother of all battles&quot; for him is an October referendum on sweeping constitutional reforms aimed at ushering in stability into Italian politics. 
 
He has pledged to step down if he loses. 
 
In the run-up to the second-round, there have been reports in the Italian press that Raggi failed to declare payments for consultations to a public body, an allegation she has dismissed. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s just muck-racking,&quot; she said. &quot;I have already clarified that I have declared everything and it&#39;s all in line with the rules.&quot; 
 
Mario Calabresi, the editor of Italy&#39;s prominent La Repubblica daily, said in an editorial on Saturday that the polls were &quot;destined to leave a mark on Italian politics and a possible rupture with the established system&quot;. 
 
He said the party for many was &quot;associated with hope&quot;. 
(AFP)

Anti-establishment local councillor Virginia Raggi, a 37-year-old lawyer, has become one of the best-known faces in Italian politics

Voters in the Italian capital went to the polls on Sunday with all signs indicating that they will elect Virginia Raggi as the first female mayor of the Eternal City. Raggi, a 37-year-old lawyer and local councillor, has leapt from anonymity to become one of the best-known faces in Italian politics in the space of only a few months on the campaign trail. The telegenic Raggi, whose victory would be a blow for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, is the rising star of the populist Five Star movement (M5S), the anti-establishment party founded by comedian Beppe Grillo. Polling stations opened at 7:00 am and were set to close at 9:00 pm today. More than nine million voters are eligible to take part in Sunday's second round election in 126 communes, including Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin and Bologna. All eyes are on Five Star which has emerged as the best-supported opposition to the centre left, Democratic Party (PD)-led coalition of Prime Minister Renzi, and the stakes are extremely high for a movement that was only founded in 2009. With the ebullient Renzi's star waning slightly, success in Rome could provide a platform for a tilt at national power in general elections due in 2018. The PD also faces defeat in Italy's financial capital Milan and a tough challenge in Turin. "We are witnessing a historic moment," Raggi said after the June 5 first round of voting, from which she emerged with 35 per cent of the vote, well ahead of her run-off rival, Roberto Giachetti (24 per cent). It was a remarkable achievement for a party with a very limited organisational apparatus and also for a woman who only entered politics five years ago. The move, she recently told AFP, was triggered by the birth of her son Matteo and her determination that he should not grow up in a city beset by the intertwined problems of failing public services and endemic corruption. Opposition to Italy's endemic cronyism and sleaze is the foundation of M5S's appeal to voters and the Roman electorate have had their fill of those in recent years. Landmark polls Dozens of local businessmen, officials and politicians are currently on trial for their involvement in a criminal network that ripped off the city to the tune of tens - if not hundreds - of millions. From stealing the funds allocated to get ethnic Roma children to school out of isolated camps, to paving the city's streets with wafer-thin surfaces, scams abounded for years, according to prosecutors, in what is known as the Mafia Capitale scandal. Renzi has sought to minimise the implications of the results of the election repeating that the "mother of all battles" for him is an October referendum on sweeping constitutional reforms aimed at ushering in stability into Italian politics. He has pledged to step down if he loses. In the run-up to the second-round, there have been reports in the Italian press that Raggi failed to declare payments for consultations to a public body, an allegation she has dismissed. "It's just muck-racking," she said. "I have already clarified that I have declared everything and it's all in line with the rules." Mario Calabresi, the editor of Italy's prominent La Repubblica daily, said in an editorial on Saturday that the polls were "destined to leave a mark on Italian politics and a possible rupture with the established system". He said the party for many was "associated with hope". (AFP)

Rome set to elect first female mayor

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Raggi's party is called Five Star Movement, it is anything but

Rome set to elect first female mayor