Italy’s Five Star Movement may form government with League

5 March

Italy’s hung parliament raises prospect of far-right PM

Italy’s hung parliament raises prospect of far-right PM

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Italy is heading for a hung parliament, according to projections released by Italian state television, after voters abandoned the country’s centre-left government on the issues of immigration and unemployment.

“This is a very clear defeat for us,” Maurizio Martina, a minister in the outgoing government, said. “We are expecting a result below our expectations. This is very clearly a negative result for us.”

The figures suggest that former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right coalition will emerge with 248-268 seats, short of the 316 needed for a majority.

Because no party or coalition has reached a simple majority, the formation of an Italian government “may now take weeks of negotiation and coalition-building,” the BBC reports.

It is mathematically possible, based on the projected results, for the Five Star Movement, led by former comedian Beppe Grillo (pictured), and the Democratic Party to combine to form a government. However, the Five Star Movement has previously said it would not take part in a coalition government.

Another possible outcome would involve Berlusconi’s coalition combining with the Democratic Party to form a government – a move that would see a “grand coalition” from the centre-left to the far-right.

Within Berlusconi’s own coalition, his Forza Italia party is projected to win 14%, says CNN, while the “xenophobic and populist” League, formerly known as the Northern League, is projected to win 16%.

The Guardian says Berlusconi and League leader Matteo Salvini came to a “gentleman’s agreement” that, should the centre-right coalition form a government, whichever party polls highest between them will name the new prime minister.

Italy’s Northern League leader Matteo Salvini has said he is willing to form a coalition government with the populist Five Star Movement, as Italian party bosses race to grab power following last week’s inclusive national election.

A centre-right alliance of four parties - including the League, or Lega Nord, and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party - took the largest share of the vote in the 4 March election, at 37%, but fell short of the 40% needed to form a majority government.

With the prospect of further elections looming over the country, the League is stretching out a hand to fellow Eurosceptic party Five Star, http://www.theweek.co.uk/italian-elections/92081/italian-elections-what-is-the-five-star-movement also known as M5S, which took the highest vote share of any single party, at 32%.

Italy’s head of state, President Sergio Mattarella, is due to start consultations next month in a bid to end the stalemate, with “various parties positioning themselves for potentially fraught and lengthy negotiations”, reports Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-politics/italys-league-leader-opens-door-to-government-deal-with-5-star-idUSKCN1GQ2XJ

An alliance between the League and the M5S would be a “challenge for Brussels”, says Politico, https://www.politico.eu/article/italy-coalition-salvini-open-5stars/ although both parties have “toned down their anti-EU positions” in recent months.Salvini told reporters yesterday that, apart from an alliance with Matteo Renzi’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD), “everything is possible”. The anti-establishment M5S has previously insisted that it will not form a coalition, nor negotiate, with anyone. In the event that he can secure a partnership between the two parties, Salvini would have to compete with M5S leader Luigi Di Maio for the position of prime minister. Yesterday Salvini insisted he had “no prejudices” as to who would take the top job.

“We are working to build a government based on a solid political majority, not grabbing [other parties’] dissidents here and there,” Salvini added. “I don’t want to be prime minister at all costs.”

M5S has yet to comment on the possibility of negotiations.