Record Candidate Votes in Online M5S ‘Congress’ – Japanese

(ANSA) – ROME, 17 August – A record number of members of the populist Five Star Movement (M5S) voted in the so-called ‘Parliamentary’ online selection of candidates for the 25 September general election .
Paid members of the party, led by former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, cast more than 50,000 votes in one day, compared with just 39,000 in two days of polls in 2018.
The members also broke with M5S tradition to review a list of 15 safe seats put together by Conte.
Among the 15 candidates likely to be elected are former Turin mayor Chiara Appendino, outgoing Minister of Agriculture Stefano Patuanelli, M5S Senator Maria Domenica Castellone and Undersecretary of Education Barbara Floridia. included.
The list includes representatives of civil society, such as anti-mafia prosecutors Federico Cafierro de Lajo and Roberto Scarpinato, and ecological transitions, such as former environment minister Sergio Costa and professor Livio de Santori. includes experts in
Conte himself leads the list, representing the M5S ticket in Rome’s Lazio 1 constituency.
Among the many other candidates selected, the oldest is 84-year-old Calabrian retired priest Natale Bianchi. (ANSA).