Italian parliament leaders to meet next week

ROME: The leaders of Italy’s parliamentary groups plan to meet next week as deepening divisions in the country’s two-party coalition have put the government on the verge of collapse.

On Monday, the party leaders of the Upper House, the Senate, are scheduled to meet, followed on Tuesday by meetings in the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies.

The talks are crucial to determine the next steps towards a possible snap general election.

The far-right League party of Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has announced that it plans to put forward a Senate motion of no confidence in the government of independent Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

To vote on it, however, the lawmakers would have to be brought out of their summer break.

Salvini had thrown the ruling coalition of his League party and the populist Five-star Movement (M5S) into chaos on Thursday by announcing his intention to seek early elections.

A coalition crisis has been simmering for months but came to a head on Wednesday when the M5S voted against a multi-billion euro high-speed rail project between France and Italy.

The League, which supports the project, convinced a majority of Senate lawmakers to keep it going.

The tone has turned increasingly harsh between Salvini and Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio, who wrote Saturday on Facebook that “Italians are facing an absurd government crisis created by the League.”

“Obviously, the League spent this year examining the survey numbers,” Di Maio wrote, repeating an accusation that Salvini is fabricating a crisis and seeking an early vote to capitalize on strong polling numbers for the League.

The Five Star Movement won the most seats in parliamentary elections in 2018 but has seen its support wane in government since.

Salvini’s party, popular for its antiimmigration stand in Italy, came top in May’s European elections and is currently polling above 35 per cent. That would likely allow him to form a new coalition with other rightwing factions.