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| Italy’s ‘Five Star’ Grows Up Into a Real Party, Scandals and All | Italy’s ‘Five Star’ Grows Up Into a Real Party, Scandals and All |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| SANTA MARIA DI CASTELLABATE, Italy — On a recent afternoon, Alessia D’Alessando ran into a couple of friends on the boardwalk of the town along the southern Italian coast where she spent her teenage summers swimming in the sea and living with her mother in the local prince’spalace. | |
| “They were like, ‘Oh, my god, you came back!” said the 27-year-old, who had left Italy after high school to pursue academic and employment opportunities in her mother’s native Germany. “What are you doing here?’” | “They were like, ‘Oh, my god, you came back!” said the 27-year-old, who had left Italy after high school to pursue academic and employment opportunities in her mother’s native Germany. “What are you doing here?’” |
| Many Italians are asking the same thing. | Many Italians are asking the same thing. |
| Before critical elections on March 4, Italy’s leading party, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, has sought to counter its image as a eurosceptic movement populated with unqualified, web-based activists by recruiting candidates from the country’s professional class. This month, they reimported Ms. D’Alessandro, a self-described “child of Europe,” from her job at a Berlin think-tank, and prominently rolled her out as a response to patronage politics as usual in the pivotal south. | Before critical elections on March 4, Italy’s leading party, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, has sought to counter its image as a eurosceptic movement populated with unqualified, web-based activists by recruiting candidates from the country’s professional class. This month, they reimported Ms. D’Alessandro, a self-described “child of Europe,” from her job at a Berlin think-tank, and prominently rolled her out as a response to patronage politics as usual in the pivotal south. |
| But revelations that the party’s leadership inflated Ms. D’Alessandro’s résumé — apparently without her knowledge — drew criticism that the party was fundamentally dishonest, unprepared to govern and, most damningly, just like other parties. | |
| In recent weeks, the Five Star Movement has experienced growing pains as it has sprouted from a protest movement into Italy’s leading political force. The party has faced evidence of plagiarism in its party platform, Free Masons among its members, accusations of domestic abuse and violence against immigrants by its candidates. A reimbursement scandal has dangerously undercut its purist appeal. | In recent weeks, the Five Star Movement has experienced growing pains as it has sprouted from a protest movement into Italy’s leading political force. The party has faced evidence of plagiarism in its party platform, Free Masons among its members, accusations of domestic abuse and violence against immigrants by its candidates. A reimbursement scandal has dangerously undercut its purist appeal. |
| Ms. D’Alessandro, a fresh and highly photogenic face, seemed perfectly cast to offer a pro-Europe patina and appeal to frustrated young Southerners. Her candidacy for Parliament cut a sharp contrast with a rival longtime politician from the governing Democratic Party known for receiving party boss instructions to procure votes with “fish fry” dinners. | Ms. D’Alessandro, a fresh and highly photogenic face, seemed perfectly cast to offer a pro-Europe patina and appeal to frustrated young Southerners. Her candidacy for Parliament cut a sharp contrast with a rival longtime politician from the governing Democratic Party known for receiving party boss instructions to procure votes with “fish fry” dinners. |
| The Five Star Movement’s candidate for prime minister, Luigi Di Maio, 31, introduced Ms. D’Alessandro as a star of its new “super competent” dream team. | The Five Star Movement’s candidate for prime minister, Luigi Di Maio, 31, introduced Ms. D’Alessandro as a star of its new “super competent” dream team. |
| He called her “an economist,” and suggested that she worked with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party in Germany. (“Torn away from Merkel,” the country’s leading paper, the Corriere della Sera, trumpeted.) | He called her “an economist,” and suggested that she worked with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party in Germany. (“Torn away from Merkel,” the country’s leading paper, the Corriere della Sera, trumpeted.) |
| “It was not accurate,” Ms. D’Alessandro said of Mr. Di Maio’s characterization of her qualifications. She clarified that she was not an economist, though she had a strong interest in the field and said, “in my private life I would read ‘The Economist.’” | |
| She sought to defend Mr. Di Maio by adding, “ultimately the essence is right because I hope that one day I can be an economist.” | She sought to defend Mr. Di Maio by adding, “ultimately the essence is right because I hope that one day I can be an economist.” |
| She said Mr. Di Maio had also caused some confusion when he “depicted me as someone working for the institution that was related to the CDU, so Merkel.” | She said Mr. Di Maio had also caused some confusion when he “depicted me as someone working for the institution that was related to the CDU, so Merkel.” |
| The business advocacy organization for which she worked, the Wirtschaftsrat, subsequently clarified that she had been an assistant who “was never active in politically relevant areas and has no political contacts.” | The business advocacy organization for which she worked, the Wirtschaftsrat, subsequently clarified that she had been an assistant who “was never active in politically relevant areas and has no political contacts.” |
| Ms. D’Alessandro said she watched with disbelief from Berlin as the party overstated her qualifications. “I was like: ‘What is happening in Italy. What are they doing?’” | |
| They were, in short, trying to win. | They were, in short, trying to win. |
| Italy’s south is critical in a tight election that analysts fear could prove destabilizing for the nation and Europe. The Five Star Movement and the center-right coalition led by a reanimated Silvio Berlusconi have both fed on southern discomfort. | Italy’s south is critical in a tight election that analysts fear could prove destabilizing for the nation and Europe. The Five Star Movement and the center-right coalition led by a reanimated Silvio Berlusconi have both fed on southern discomfort. |
| “The great revolutions always start in the south,” said Angelo Tofalo, a leading Five Star Movement politician in Campania. | “The great revolutions always start in the south,” said Angelo Tofalo, a leading Five Star Movement politician in Campania. |
| Most of Italy’s votes are allotted on a proportional system that benefits the strong party identification that the Five Star Movement enjoys, especially in the south. | Most of Italy’s votes are allotted on a proportional system that benefits the strong party identification that the Five Star Movement enjoys, especially in the south. |
| But a new electoral law also gives seats in Parliament to the victors of winner-take-all districts. In those contests, a well-known, old school local politician has the edge. | But a new electoral law also gives seats in Parliament to the victors of winner-take-all districts. In those contests, a well-known, old school local politician has the edge. |
| “Five Star’s candidates came out of the web, not the territory,” said Roberto D’Alimonte, a politics professor at Rome’s Luiss University. The key to the election, he said, was whether “voters in the south will be driven by brand or the candidates.” | “Five Star’s candidates came out of the web, not the territory,” said Roberto D’Alimonte, a politics professor at Rome’s Luiss University. The key to the election, he said, was whether “voters in the south will be driven by brand or the candidates.” |
| Agropoli, a seaside town south of Naples on Italy’s west coast, is the capital of the district Ms. D’Alessandro wants to represent in Italy’s lower house of Parliament. For some who live there, her party’s name is enough. | Agropoli, a seaside town south of Naples on Italy’s west coast, is the capital of the district Ms. D’Alessandro wants to represent in Italy’s lower house of Parliament. For some who live there, her party’s name is enough. |
| Desiré Tortora, 22, said she had never heard of Ms. D’Alessandro but would vote for the Five Star Movement anyway. “They understand the young people and the others are thieves,” she said. “I vote for the party.” | Desiré Tortora, 22, said she had never heard of Ms. D’Alessandro but would vote for the Five Star Movement anyway. “They understand the young people and the others are thieves,” she said. “I vote for the party.” |
| But the governing Democratic Party, which desperately needs to avoid getting wiped out in the south, is banking on the connections built over the decades by its candidate, Franco Alfieri, 52, a far more typical politician. | But the governing Democratic Party, which desperately needs to avoid getting wiped out in the south, is banking on the connections built over the decades by its candidate, Franco Alfieri, 52, a far more typical politician. |
| “He knows everyone,” said Amadeo Maffongelli, 61, in his shop, The Golden Zeppola. “Also his cousin is my wife’s cousin. I’m going to vote for him even if I don’t like his party.” | “He knows everyone,” said Amadeo Maffongelli, 61, in his shop, The Golden Zeppola. “Also his cousin is my wife’s cousin. I’m going to vote for him even if I don’t like his party.” |
| Mr. Alieri’s connections are legendary. In 2016, audio surfaced of the region’s powerful governor, Vincenzo De Luca, instructing his lieutenant, Mr. Alfieri, to secure votes with “fish fry” dinners and praising him as imbued with Christ-like powers when it came to exchanging services for electoral support. | Mr. Alieri’s connections are legendary. In 2016, audio surfaced of the region’s powerful governor, Vincenzo De Luca, instructing his lieutenant, Mr. Alfieri, to secure votes with “fish fry” dinners and praising him as imbued with Christ-like powers when it came to exchanging services for electoral support. |
| The audio recording was embarrassing for the Democratic Party, as is the decision this week by Mr. De Luca’s son to step down from his public office amid accusations of corruption. | The audio recording was embarrassing for the Democratic Party, as is the decision this week by Mr. De Luca’s son to step down from his public office amid accusations of corruption. |
| But when it came time to pick candidates in the all-or-nothing districts, a petition of local administrators made it clear that Mr. Alfieri, who was mayor of Agropoli for 10 years, was the strongest candidate. | But when it came time to pick candidates in the all-or-nothing districts, a petition of local administrators made it clear that Mr. Alfieri, who was mayor of Agropoli for 10 years, was the strongest candidate. |
| On a recent evening, in the tiny hamlet of Montecorice, residents waited to shake Mr. Alfieri’s hand and kiss his cheeks. Local politicians took turns singing his praises. | On a recent evening, in the tiny hamlet of Montecorice, residents waited to shake Mr. Alfieri’s hand and kiss his cheeks. Local politicians took turns singing his praises. |
| Mr. Alfieri, who shrugs off the fish fry comments as “folklore” and “a joke” by the governor, told the crowd that whatever their political ideology, he was one of them, “born and raised and living here, not in Berlin.” | Mr. Alfieri, who shrugs off the fish fry comments as “folklore” and “a joke” by the governor, told the crowd that whatever their political ideology, he was one of them, “born and raised and living here, not in Berlin.” |
| The crowd applauded when he told them that the new electoral ballot “is extremely complicated with a lot of names, but there is also my name.” | The crowd applauded when he told them that the new electoral ballot “is extremely complicated with a lot of names, but there is also my name.” |
| As for Ms. D’Alessandro, he dismissed her in an interview as “a pretty girl” who had floated down south on an inflated résumé. | |
| Ms. D’Alessandro speaks five languages, studied ballet seriously, attended private universities in Germany and has a masters in public policy. | Ms. D’Alessandro speaks five languages, studied ballet seriously, attended private universities in Germany and has a masters in public policy. |
| Along the way she built her résumé managing fashion events for a public relations firm, working at Abercrombie and Fitch and doing some modeling of her own. “You can earn a little bit more money in one hour than in eight hours,” she said. | |
| The Five Star Movement has long railed against carpetbagging, but for all of Ms. D’Alessandro’s efforts to seem of the place — talking about her childhood in Naples and showing the bar where she had her first date — she clearly isn’t. | The Five Star Movement has long railed against carpetbagging, but for all of Ms. D’Alessandro’s efforts to seem of the place — talking about her childhood in Naples and showing the bar where she had her first date — she clearly isn’t. |
| “I have no idea who she is,” said Stefania Piccirilli as she escorted her niece to a Carnival party. | “I have no idea who she is,” said Stefania Piccirilli as she escorted her niece to a Carnival party. |
| Ms. D’Alessandro began spending her weekends and summers here at age 15, after her mother separated from her father in Naples and began working in Palazzo Belmonte, the ancestral palace turned luxury hotel of Prince Angelo Granito di Belmonte. | Ms. D’Alessandro began spending her weekends and summers here at age 15, after her mother separated from her father in Naples and began working in Palazzo Belmonte, the ancestral palace turned luxury hotel of Prince Angelo Granito di Belmonte. |
| Her mother became a companion to the prince, who locals say prefers to be addressed as the Prince. He escorted Ms. D’Alessandro to an interview in a local cafe, where she said she was “shocked” by how the foreign press compared the party to far-right, anti-European Union movements, like the National Front in France or UKIP in Britain. Reminded that Five Star was until last year formally aligned in Brussels with UKIP, she acknowledged, “I don’t know exactly what they do in parliament.” | Her mother became a companion to the prince, who locals say prefers to be addressed as the Prince. He escorted Ms. D’Alessandro to an interview in a local cafe, where she said she was “shocked” by how the foreign press compared the party to far-right, anti-European Union movements, like the National Front in France or UKIP in Britain. Reminded that Five Star was until last year formally aligned in Brussels with UKIP, she acknowledged, “I don’t know exactly what they do in parliament.” |
| On immigration, perhaps the most important issue in the election, she said, “I cannot express a clear preference” and her party would present a solution “once we are at the government.” | On immigration, perhaps the most important issue in the election, she said, “I cannot express a clear preference” and her party would present a solution “once we are at the government.” |
| If she didn’t win, she said “staying here would be very difficult” given there had been little to keep her here to begin with. | If she didn’t win, she said “staying here would be very difficult” given there had been little to keep her here to begin with. |
| Still, she said she would like to continue in politics, and was grateful to the Five Star Movement for giving her so much, so soon. | Still, she said she would like to continue in politics, and was grateful to the Five Star Movement for giving her so much, so soon. |
| “It would never have been possible with any other party,” she said. | “It would never have been possible with any other party,” she said. |