Here’s how the M5S chooses its “foreign affairs spokesperson”

Rome. Having never earned an income before entering Parliament, she makes no secret of the fact that her ‘road to Damascus’ moment was driven by very practical reasons. “I speak as a young person,” says Iolanda Di Stasio in her introductory video as the M5S’s ‘facilitator’ for foreign affairs. “Knowing that perhaps much of my future career would be based abroad, I focused on understanding what lies beyond our borders.” One can just picture her – the 26-year-old from Afragola, with her science-stream sixth-form diploma in her pocket – searching online for a job in London, only to realise she first needs to look a little more closely into the issue of Brexit.

It will be Ms Di Stasio herself who takes on the role of national foreign policy lead for the M5S, given that there were no other candidates for the post. And so it will be she – whose CV boasts roles such as “incoming manager for tour operators organising symposia” – who will set the agenda for the ruling party when it comes to discussing the Libyan crisis. And when it comes to tackling the US-China trade war, it will again be her – who has acquired “organisational skills in managing civil service volunteers at a non-profit organisation” – whom the M5S will turn to.

Of course, Ms Di Stasio was right to put herself forward as a ‘facilitator’, if she considers herself capable of the role. If anything, it is merely a coincidence that stands out. Namely, that the person appointed to lead this area within the M5S is a Member of Parliament who is very closely linked – through personal trust as well as political affinity – to Pietro Dettori, a partner at Davide Casaleggio’s Rousseau, a former employee of Casaleggio Associati and who consequently arrived at Palazzo Chigi as communications director for Deputy Prime Minister Di Maio. And when the leader of the M5S became Foreign Secretary, Dettori also moved to the Farnesina as his adviser. Now, Dettori finds himself acting as the link between the minister and his “facilitator”. For the M5S, foreign affairs are a whole chain of personal ties that cannot be broken.