Italy’s 5-Star Shows Ruthless Streak, Expels 4 Parliamentarians

The ruling 5-Star Movement expelled four parliamentarians from the party on Dec. 31.
Italy’s 5-Star Shows Ruthless Streak, Expels 4 Parliamentarians
Italian Deputy PM Luigi Di Maio speaks at the 5-Star Movement party's open-air rally at Circo Massimo in Rome, Italy, on Oct. 20, 2018. Reuters/Max Rossi
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ROME—The ruling 5-Star Movement expelled four parliamentarians from the party Dec. 31, including a former coast guard official who once famously ordered the captain of a sinking cruise liner to return to his doomed ship.

The announcement underscored 5-Star’s determination to instill discipline in its ranks, even if it means weakening its fragile majority in the upper house Senate.