ROME – Five Star Movement leader Luigi Di Maio is resigning as head of the party, political sources report.

 Di Maio is expected to keep his role of foreign minister.

 The decision, expected to be announced today, comes after a wave of resignations and defections from the party, most recently the departure of two deputies, Michele Nitti and Nadia Aprile, who were both facing severe criticism from the party over unpaid returns. They are the latest of the total 31 Five Star parliamentarians to have abandoned the party since this legislation began, Il Messaggero said.

 Di Maio, who has been party leader since Sept. 2017, faced increasing pressure from within the party (a major component of the current ruling coalition government) as it lost people and demand for reform and change grew. Most recently, three Five Star senators presented a document for reform that called for the removal of the office of political head of the party altogether, to be replaced with an elected collegiate body.

 Furthermore, the Five Star Movement is expected to do badly in the upcoming Emilia-Romagna regional elections, which follow the defeat of the joint Five Star Movement-Democratic Party candidate in the Umbria regional elections.

 Vito Crimi, deputy minister of the interior, is likely to be the interim leader, while political sources point to Minister of Economic Development Stefano Patuanelli or Justice Minister Alfonso Bonafede as the next party head, Il Messaggero reports.

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