The four founders of the 'Sardines', a grassroots movement that has sprung up around Italy in opposition to populist, anti-migrant policies such as those proposed by former interior minister and League party leader Matteo Salvini, have ruled out forming a political party.
"Italy is in the middle of a peaceful revolt that has no precedent in recent decades," the founders wrote in a letter published in Friday's edition of La Repubblica.
"(Imposing) the structure of party would be an insult to what (the sardines) have been and what they could be.
"And that is not because parties are wrong... trying to give a framework to a revolt would be like putting borders on the sea.
"The only certainty we have is that we have been lying down for too long". The Sardines sprang up in Bologna in mid-November as a spontaneous response to Salvini's vow to "free" the Emilia Romagna region of the centre-left politicians who have governed it for decades, in regional elections in January.
Sardine rallies have since taken place across the length and breadth of Italy.
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