Two important politicians have left the Five Star Movement party in Italy after the collapse of the coalition government under Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Federico D'Inca told the newspaper La Repubblica on Sunday that he knew he would leave his party the moment it refused to back the government, of which it was a member, in a confidence vote.
"At the end I felt like a stranger in my own group," D'Inca said.
The former head of the Five Star faction in the Italian parliament, Davide Crippa, also announced he would be leaving the party in an interview on Sunday with Corriere della Sera, saying that it has become "a home I do not recognize."
The Five Star Movement, founded by comedian Beppe Grillo and led by Giuseppe Conte, is a left-wing, anti-establishment, populist party.
While the Five Star Movement had recently decided that it would no longer put people up for election to parliament who have already served two terms, both politicians said that this had played no role in their decision.
Even before the collapse of the coalition government, a number of politicians had split from the party, led by Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio. Some experts have suggested that some politicians are leaving the party to escape the two-term rule.
