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The Italian Senate will meet Tuesday, August 13 to discuss the date to be put to vote the motion of defiance filed by the Matteo Salvini League. The question of putting this measure to a vote was not unanimous among the various political parties at the end of this meeting. On the one hand, the League of Matteo Salvini wants to go to the race for elections. On the other hand, the 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the Democratic Party (PD) are procrastinating.
The leaders of the parliamentary groups met Monday failed to agree on a date for consideration of a motion of censure filed by the League to bring down the government of Giuseppe Conte. The Senate will have to meet in plenary session Tuesday evening to decide between the position of Salvini who wants to vote censorship on Wednesday and that of his former ally M5S who pleads for a simple statement of Conte August 20 in the Senate.
Matteo Salvini returned for the occasion with his right-wing allies, Forza Italia (FI) of Silvio Berlusconi (right) and Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) by Giorgia Meloni (far right).
For its part, Luigi Di Maio's M5S got the support of a Democratic Party wing (PD, center left) attached to former prime minister Matteo Renzi (2014-2016), even though the party's boss, Nicola Zingaretti, says he is ready for elections as soon as possible.
►To read too: End of the government coalition in Italy: "The verse was in the fruit from the beginning"
M5S leader Luigi Di Maio accused his ex-government partner of blowing up the League-M5S coalition on August 8, giving the country a " stab in the back ." " The Italians will pay the League, " he assured, even if the party of Matteo Salvini is credited with 36 to 38% of voting intentions, almost 20 points more than in the parliamentary elections of March 2018 On the other hand, the M5S, which was in the spring of 2018 the first party in Italy with more than 32% of the votes, fell to 16/17%.
Opposition to immediate elections mobilizes
Comedian Beppe Grillo, the founder and mentor of the M5S, lent his support to Luigi Di Maio, proposing " a republican front " to prevent " the barbarians from seizing power ."
The former head of the center-left government in 2013-2014, Enrico Letta, said in an interview with AFP that an absolute majority for Matteo Salvini in Parliament " would be a great danger " and could lead to Italy " outside Europe ".
Former Minister of the Economy Pier Carlo Padoan warned that a Salvini government could further derail an already fragile economy, with almost zero growth expected for this year and a huge debt (more than 130% of GDP ).
Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi calls for " institutional government " to adopt in particular the 2020 budget and avoid the automatic increase in VAT scheduled for next year. Such a government could be made up of M5S ministers, with the movement having a relative majority in both Houses, and being supported by other parties, including the Democratic Party.
►To read too: Early elections in Italy: divided parties?