Western Gov'ts Don't See Real Problems People Face - Italian Politician

ROME (Sputnik) – According to Di Maio, the Western governments no longer hear their citizens and, therefore, are unable to solve the issues of poverty and unemployment, or problems associated with the provision of the right to health and the protection of the environment.

"There is a feeling that [the governments in] Italy, other European states and most part of the Western world in general have stopped realizing the real problems, which the people face, which are priorities for citizens," Di Maio, one of the leaders of the Italy's opposition Five Star Movement (M5S) party, told RIA Novosti in an interview.

Di Maio recalled that political analysts did not manage to predict the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election and explained the fact by a large gap between the Western establishment and the real demands of the society. He added that the society has so-called "populist" demands, which had not been fulfilled for over 20 years, and the citizens attempt to draw government’s attention to this demand and vote for the populist parties to promote the new vision of a state.

The lawmaker stressed that the forecasts conducted by political analysts over the past five or six years did not coincide with the real situation with regard to the populist M5S party, which gained over 25 percent at the 2013 elections, despite the projections said it would get 12-13 percent.