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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”.

“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.”

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. 
 

 

 

 

 

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2024 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS

From Swexit to Frexit: How Europe’s far-right parties have ditched plans to leave EU

Far-right parties, set to make soaring gains in the European Parliament elections in June, have one by one abandoned plans to get their countries to leave the European Union.

Published: 6 May 2024 13:35 CEST
From Swexit to Frexit: How Europe's far-right parties have ditched plans to leave EU

Whereas plans to leave the bloc took centre stage at the last European polls in 2019, far-right parties have shifted their focus to issues such as immigration as they seek mainstream votes.

“Quickly a lot of far-right parties abandoned their firing positions and their radical discourse aimed at leaving the European Union, even if these parties remain eurosceptic,” Thierry Chopin, a visiting professor at the College of Europe in Bruges told AFP.

Britain, which formally left the EU in early 2020 following the 2016 Brexit referendum, remains the only country to have left so far.

Here is a snapshot:

No Nexit 

The Dutch Freedom Party (PVV) led by Geert Wilders won a stunning victory in Dutch national elections last November and polls indicate it will likely top the European vote in the Netherlands.

While the manifesto for the November election stated clearly: “the PVV wants a binding referendum on Nexit” – the Netherlands leaving the EU – such a pledge is absent from the European manifesto.

For more coverage of the 2024 European Elections click here.

The European manifesto is still fiercely eurosceptic, stressing: “No European superstate for us… we will work hard to change the Union from within.”

The PVV, which failed to win a single seat in 2019 European Parliament elections, called for an end to the “expansion of unelected eurocrats in Brussels” and took aim at a “veritable tsunami” of EU environmental regulations.

No Frexit either

Leaders of France’s National Rally (RN) which is also leading the polls in a challenge to President Emmanuel Macron, have also explicitly dismissed talk they could ape Britain’s departure when unveiling the party manifesto in March.

“Our Macronist opponents accuse us… of being in favour of a Frexit, of wanting to take power so as to leave the EU,” party leader Jordan Bardella said.

But citing EU nations where the RN’s ideological stablemates are scoring political wins or in power, he added: “You don’t leave the table when you’re about to win the game.”

READ ALSO: What’s at stake in the 2024 European parliament elections?

Bardella, 28, who took over the party leadership from Marine Le Pen in 2021, is one of France’s most popular politicians.

The June poll is seen as a key milestone ahead of France’s next presidential election in 2027, when Le Pen, who lead’s RN’s MPs, is expected to mount a fourth bid for the top job.

Dexit, maybe later

The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Alice Weidel, said in January 2024 that the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum was an example to follow for the EU’s most populous country.

Weidel said the party, currently Germany’s second most popular, wanted to reform EU institutions to curb the power of the European Commission and address what she saw as a democratic deficit.

But if the changes sought by the AfD could not be realised, “we could have a referendum on ‘Dexit’ – a German exit from the EU”, she said.

The AfD which has recently seen a significant drop in support as it contends with various controversies, had previously downgraded a “Dexit” scenario to a “last resort”.

READ ALSO: ‘Wake-up call’: Far-right parties set to make huge gains in 2024 EU elections

Fixit, Swexit, Polexit…

Elsewhere the eurosceptic Finns Party, which appeals overwhelmingly to male voters, sees “Fixit” as a long-term goal.

The Sweden Democrats (SD) leader Jimmie Åkesson and leading MEP Charlie Weimers said in February in a press op ed that “Sweden is prepared to leave as a last resort”.

Once in favour of a “Swexit”, the party, which props up the government of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, in 2019 abandoned the idea of leaving the EU due to a lack of public support.

In November 2023 thousands of far-right supporters in the Polish capital Warsaw called for a “Polexit”.

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