Overview

• Chiara Appendino announced her resignation during the M5S national council, casting it as a call to “put ourselves in question” after recent setbacks.
• She has criticized the party’s proximity to the PD and said she would not have backed an alliance with PD leader Eugenio Giani in Tuscany.
• Giuseppe Conte is the sole candidate in an online vote next weekend that, if confirmed, will reset party organs and require a new slate of vice presidents.
• While the operational vacancy is brief, reporting describes a political fissure over strategy and identity following poor regional results in Marche, Calabria and Tuscany.
• Analysts note she lacks a sizable parliamentary following at this stage, and speculation about potential ties with Virginia Raggi remains unconfirmed.