ROME, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Italy's populist Five Star Movement (M5S) on Thursday held online primaries to choose a prime minister candidate ahead of the next general election likely to be held in spring 2018.
The party has been polling neck and neck with the ruling center-left Democratic Party for months.
Its political platform includes opposing international trade treaties such as the the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), cutting taxes, and a "zero arrivals" migration policy, according to the blog of its founder and leader, comedian Beppe Grillo.
The primary vote was reportedly off to a slow start as M5S rank-and-file members complained of difficulties in casting their vote on Grillo's blog, which is where the M5S conducts its business.
The victor will likely be 31-year-old Luigi Di Maio, who was elected to the Lower House in March 2013 and is currently its deputy speaker.
Di Maio is currently in Sicily, where a judge has declared illegitimate a M5S online primary in which voters chose their candidate for governor ahead of November regional elections.
Also in Sicily on Thursday, the M5S mayor of the city of Bagheria, Patrizio Cinque, suspended himself from the movement after he was placed under investigation for abuse of office and bid tampering, according to ANSA news agency. However, he has not stepped down as mayor.
The Movement founded 10 years ago prides itself on being uncorruptible.
While its rules once dictated that M5S elected officials must resign if they are under probing, Grillo amended that rule after M5S Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi was placed under investigation for abuse of office and false testimony in January this year.
Result of the M5S primary is expected to be announced on Saturday, according to Grillo's blog.
