Italian official claims ruling alliance ended
MILAN — Italy faced a government crisis Thursday as Interior Minister Matteo Salvini of the League party called for a new election, saying his party’s coalition with the 5-Star Movement had collapsed over policy differences.
The two ruling parties have been at odds over a host of policy issues, but tensions spiraled Wednesday after the Senate rejected a move by the 5-Stars to kill a Eu-funded high-speed rail link with neighboring France. The infrastructure project — known in Italy as TAV — was backed by the League.
Salvini met with Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte on Thursday. After the meeting, Salvini issued a statement saying the TAV vote showed that the ruling coalition had collapsed and calling for a speedy election.
“Let’s go immediately to the Parliament and verify that there is no longer a majority, as was evident in the vote on the TAV, and quickly return the word to voters,” Salvini said.
Conte was expected to seek a confidence vote in Parliament; if the government lost, that would set the stage for a new election.
Parliament has adjourned for its summer break and would need to be recalled for such a vote.
The 5-Star leader, Luigi Di Maio, responded to Salvini’s statement by saying his party was ready to go to a new election. But he also said an election should not happen until after parliament gave its final approval to a reform reducing the number of lawmakers, a vote scheduled for early September.
Earlier Thursday, the League issued a statement complaining of deadlock with the 5-Star Movement on a variety of issues, saying “it is useless to go on” and calling a new election “the only alternative to this government.”