Turmoil as Renzi pulls centrist party out of Italy’s coalition
ITALY was plunged into political turmoil last night after Matteo Renzi, the former prime minister, withdrew his support from the government in the midst of the Covid pandemic and economic collapse.
After weeks of threats, Mr Renzi announced that his centrist Italia Viva party would no longer be part of the coalition, with the party’s two ministers tendering their resignations.
The move, which was denounced as irresponsible by coalition MPs, analysts and much of the Italian press, could precipitate the resignation of Giuseppe Conte, the prime minister, and the rise of the right.
The political crisis came as Italy’s death toll from Covid19 reached 80,000. The country remains in the grip of the pandemic, with another 16,000 new cases and 507 deaths reported yesterday.
Mr Renzi has criticised the coalition’s handling of the crisis, with Italy registering the second highest number of deaths after the UK.
He is also at odds with the government over how to spend the €210bn that Italy has been promised by the EU to help it climb out of the economic slump caused by the pandemic.
Mr Renzi disagrees with the plan drawn up by the coalition, saying that Italy should tap into a credit line from the European Stability Mechanism, the eurozone’s bail-out fund, to boost health spending. It was “inexplicable and irresponsible” not to do so, he said during a press conference in Rome where he announced his party’s withdrawal from the coalition.
Government MPs were furious with Mr Renzi for precipitating the crisis, saying it could play into the hands of the hard right. If new elections are called, a right-wing alliance of the League, the far-right Brothers of Italy and Silvio Berlusconi’s party could win up to 50pc of the vote and enter government. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
MPs said the move could play into the hands of the hard right