Italian PM threatens to quit over bitter coalition rows
ITALY’S prime minister said last night that he would resign unless the country’s two ruling coalition partners ended increasingly bitter squabbling.
In a dramatic press conference, Giuseppe Conte openly asked the far-right League and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement if they still want to govern together, urging them to stop a continuous fight that puts the government’s action at risk.
“I am asking both these political forces to make a choice and tell me if they still want to honour the government’s obligations,” Mr Conte said.
“They must be aware of their task. If this is not the case, I will simply hand back my mandate.”
The two coalition partners have been constantly squabbling since they clinched a fragile governing pact a year ago, choosing Mr Conte, a former academic, to act as a mediator.
Mr Conte’s speech comes at a turbulent time for Italian politics and follows the surprising results of May’s European elections. The vote confirmed the surging popularity of Matteo Salvini’s League, which scored a sound victory and replaced a declining Five Star Movement as Italy’s biggest party. The result also consolidated Salvini’s dominance over the Italian political scene.
The League’s leader responded to Mr Conte’s call almost immediately.
“We want to carry on, no time to waste,” Mr Salvini, the interior minister, wrote on Twitter, before listing the measures he wants to promote as part of his agenda. Those include an expensive plan to reduce Italian income taxes to a flat rate of 15 per cent.
Mr Conte’s ultimatum came at a time when he increasingly needs a clear and solid mandate to negotiate with Brussels. Due to its expansive economic measures, Italy could face disciplinary procedures for breaking the European Union’s budget rules.
The European Commission wrote to Rome last week expressing its concerns over the budget forecasts and warning the government against its wide-ranging budget plans. Giovanni Tria, the economy minister, replied on Friday, ensuring that next year’s economic measures will include a spending review and revenue enhancement.