COPY LINK

POLITICS

How a joke political party became Italy’s ‘fourth largest’

As Italy's major parties start preparations for the general election in a year's time, a new rival has been born - and it's amassed thousands of followers on social media.

Published: 10 March 2017 09:59 CET
Updated: 10 March 2017 11:34 CET

How a joke political party became Italy's 'fourth largest'

Comedian Diego Bianchi presents the party. Photo: Gazebo/Rai 3

The days-old Movimento Arturo (Arthur Movement) was set up by a satirical TV show, but it appears to have gone beyond a joke.

In the ten days since it was born, the 'party' has overtaken the right-wing Northern League in terms of social media following, gained media coverage across Italy – even sparking debate in financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore – and seen branches set up around the country and the world.

The movement is the brainchild of the team behind Gazebo, a talk show which mixes news and entertainment.

In response to the split of Italy's ruling Democratic Party, the presenters discussed possible names for the new movement.

Cartoonist Makkox suggested 'New Left', 'Old Left', and 'Five Left Movement', before arriving at Movimento Arturo – the name 'Arturo' chosen partly because of its similarity to the word 'futuro', often repeated by politicians.

When the official new left-wing party announced their name as the Progressive and Democratic Movement (Movimento dei democratici e dei progressisti), abbreviated to Mo.Dem.Pro, the team criticized the name, with Makkox joking that it was reminiscent of the stock markets.

And Gazebo's lead presenter, Diego Bianchi, announced that Movimento Arturo would set up its own social media profiles, with the aim of “exceeding the new party in followers”.

Prima regola del #movimentoarturo non ci sono regole. Fate da soli, ma fate educati. Siate d'esempio e restate Arturo. @zdizoro @makkox

— Andrea Salerno (@SalernoSal) March 5, 2017

“The first rule of Movimento Arturo is 'there are no rules'” says journalist Andrea Salerno, one of the team.

Within hours, the 'joke' movement had gained 21,000 followers, and has now doubled that figure. As for the Progressive and Democratic Movement, they have yet to reach the 10,000 mark.

Movimento Arturo has also overtaken Matteo Salvini's far-right Northern League party, which can only boast 21,700 followers on Twitter – though Salvini has over 300,000 followers on his personal account.

It will have some way to go to match the other three parties: Forza Italia (135,000 Twitter followers), the Democratic Party (205,000) and the Five Star Movement (471,000).

“Obviously, it started as a provocation, but it's enough to read the different tweets to see that it's going beyond that,” the Calabrian faction of the movement told The Local.

Indeed, different social media users have chimed in on what Arturo means to them, ranging from “Arturo is culture, Arturo is an alternative, Arturo is a union”, to “Arturo is the hiss of the moka”, referring to the traditional Italian coffee pot.

While many are just enjoying the meme, for others it seems to be a way of expressing their real political dissatisfaction.

“Arturo is the political expression of the socialized masses,” said one user, behind the Ancona branch of the new party. “It's a jokey initiative that makes clear the serious need for political identity,” said another, adding: “A moment of seriousness – now I'm going back to taking drugs”.

And what's more, thousands of Italians set up their own accounts, creating local and even international 'political action committees' for the new party.

The map below shows the spread of the Movimento Arturo.

Francesco Barbati, an Italian expat who has set up a Swedish branch for the movement, told The Local, “I wanted to be part of this joke/social phenomenon. As an expat, I'm curious about what happens in my country, especially on the left, and I watched with interest how Gazebo was ironically challenging the 'rebellious' figures who left the PD.”

“Movimento Arturo is a joke, yes, but it can also be seen as a sort of response to what the Left is missing in our country – being detached from the reality, and taking on controversial issues,” added Barbati. “Moreover, I am curious about how far this movement might go, and see the social development of that.”

Al lavoro nel cantiere per la nuova sede del #movimentoarturo.
Nonostante l'occhio attento e invidioso degli attivisti altrui. pic.twitter.com/RXdGkFsHB8

— Arturo Groenlandia (@MovArtGroenland) March 5, 2017

At work on the building site for the new headquarters of Movimento Arturo.

Ex-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's withdrawal as party secretary earlier this year highlighted the party's internal rifts, pushing the party to primary elections and ultimately leading to the founding of the Progressive and Democratic Movement.

The divides had been apparent earlier however, with a large faction of the party refusing to support Renzi in his constitutional reforms package, the subject of a referendum on which he staked his leadership.

As for Movimento Arturo, it is also holding its own primary elections, parodying those of the Democratic Party, which will choose Renzi's successor on April 30th.

Member comments

Become a Member to leave a comment.

The strike comes after Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama — who is close to Meloni — called a top RAI editor to complain about a television report into Italy’s controversial migration deal with his country.

The Usigrai trade union called the strike from May 6 to May 7 saying talks with management had failed to address their concerns.

It cited numerous issues, including staff shortages and contract issues, but in first place was “the suffocating control over journalistic work, with the attempt to reduce RAI to a megaphone for the government”.

It had already used that phrase to object to what critics say is the increasing influence over RAI by figures close to Prime Minister Meloni, who leads Italy’s most right-wing government since World War II.

However, another union of RAI journalists, Unirai, said they would not join what they called a “political” strike, defending the return to “pluralism” at the broadcaster.

Funded in part by a licence fee and with top managers long chosen by politicians, RAI’s independence has always been an issue of debate.

But the arrival in power of Meloni — leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, who formed a coalition with Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party and the late Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia — redoubled concerns.

Tensions erupted at the weekend amid accusations RAI censored a speech by a leading writer criticising Meloni ahead of Liberation Day on April 25, when Italians mark the defeat of Fascism and the Nazis at the end of World War II.

Both RAI’s management and Meloni have denied censorship, and the premier posted the text of the monologue on her social media.

In another twist, Albania’s premier confirmed Thursday he called senior RAI editor Paolo Corsini about an TV report on Sunday into Italy’s plans to build two migration processing centres on Albanian territory.

Rama told La Stampa newspaper the report was “biased” and contained “lies” – adding that he had not raised the issue with Meloni.

The Report programme claimed the costs of migrant centres, which are under construction, were already “out of control” and raised questions about criminals benefiting from the project.