Conte confirmed as president of the Five Star Movement, "Now let's all move forward together."

Giuseppe Conte was confirmed as president of the Five Star Movement with 89.3% of the vote in favor. The announcement was published on the Movement's Facebook page following the conclusion of online voting by members for the leader's election.

Of the 101,783 registered voters eligible to vote, 59,720 took part, equal to 58.67%. To the question: 'Are you in favor of electing Giuseppe Conte as president of the Five Star Movement?' 53,353 voted YES. 6,367 voted NO.

The conclusion of the online vote, with the expected reappointment of the former prime minister as leader of the Movement, comes after moments of tension within the Five Star Movement, with Chiara Appendino's resignation as vice president. The former mayor of Turin had resigned a few days before the vote, protesting against the president's stance, which she deemed too heavily aligned with the Democratic Party.

"We must have the courage to change course," she wrote on social media. A decision that seemed to have opened a rift within the Five Star Movement. It was the first significant stance against Conte since the Movement ousted founder Beppe Grillo during the Constituent Assembly at the end of 2024. But already last Friday, with online voting underway, Appendino announced that she had voted yes to Conte's request for reappointment as president, explaining that she had been persuaded to backtrack by a statement from the leader, in which he emphasized that the Five Star Movement must be "uncomfortable, free, and ready to form alliances only on the basis of solid programmatic agreements consistent with our values."

"We are finally back to marking our distance, as I have often hoped, from a broad field in which we cannot be forced," the Five Star Movement parliamentarian added in closing remarks. Conte welcomed the result with a brief social media post: "Thank you to the entire Five Star Movement community, thank you all for the support, for the strength and courage you continue to give me every day to face every battle together. We will work even harder to always do better. Forward, all together, with heads held high. Always on the right side!"