Foreign Minister Di Maio Set To Leave 5-Star Movement, Form Own Party

Italian outlets reporting that Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio is set to split from the populist 5-Star Movement (M5S)to form his own parliamentary party. Di Maio's defection has come about as tensions within M5S over the extent of Italian support for Ukraine have boiled over.

• Wires report that Di Maio's party will be named 'Together for the Future', and could bring on board Di Maio's initial target-size cohort of around 35 deputies and 10 senators from M5S according to reports in Il Foglio.
• Di Maio is a staunch supporter of Italy providing significant military support to Ukraine, to which some within the M5S are opposed (indeed some wings of the ideologically broad party have come in for criticism for being seen as pro-Russian).
• Di Maio's split from M5S does not necessarily mean the collapse of PM Mario Draghi's broad governing coalition, with the gov't holding a huge majority in the Chamber of Deputies.
• Without the influence of moderate Di Maio and his supporters, former PM Giuseppe Conte's M5S could shift towards an even more populist direction, risking a major fallout with gov't colleagues over support for Ukraine. In the scenario in which the remainder of M5S leaves the Draghi gov't, it would still hold a sizeable majority in parliament.