Italy Election: Five Star Movement wins most votes, lacks majority to govern alone

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Europe

Italy's election has failed to produce an outright winner, creating uncertainty about control of the government. The populist party known as the Five Star Movement, won thirty-two percent of the vote. The Democratic Party, which led the current government, got only 23 percent. CGTN's Kate Parkinson reports from Rome.

For Luigi di Maio, the leader of Italy's Five Star Movement, the results of Sunday's election is a big win. The anti-establishment, Eurosceptic party made sweeping gains, winning about a third of the vote.

LUIGI DI MAIO, LEADER FIVE STAR MOVEMENT "For the Five Star Movement, this election has been a triumph. We are the absolute winners of this election so first of all a big thank you to about 11 million Italians who voted for us and gave us their trust and who honored us with their trust."

Far-right leader, Matteo Salvini was also jubilant. His anti-immigration party, the League, did better than predicted - outperforming the party of his more moderate coalition partner, Silvio Berlusconi - to become the main rightwing voice in Italy.

MATTEO SALVINI, LEADER LEAGUE PARTY "This is an extraordinary victory which fills us with pride, joy and responsibility, because millions of Italians have asked us to retake control of this country, to free it from uncertainty and insecurity after the laws created by Renzi, by Brussels, the economic spread, migrant arrivals, bank failures. So I see it as a vote for the future."

The 2008 financial crisis has fuelled the rise of anti-establishment parties across Europe. In Italy, where economic recovery has been slow and unemployment remains stubbornly high, the biggest loser in Sunday's vote was the party that's been in power since 2013.

ENZO MOAVERO MILANESI FORMER MINISTER OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS "The result yesterday shows that a lot of people in Italy are deeply unhappy with the policies of the last five years. I think the, let's say dramatic in a way, result of yesterday with the change of the political equilibrium shows how the unhappiness has been conveyed."

KATE PARKINSON ROME "But while there is a clear loser, there is no clear winner. Despite both Five Star and the League claiming they have the right to govern, neither has secured enough parliamentary seats to do it alone. The concern for many in Europe is that they may decide to join forces, producing a Eurosceptic, anti-establishment, and anti-immigrant coalition government. Kate Parkinson, CGTN, Rome."