The leader of the 5-star Movement (M5S) said he was ready Thursday to negotiate the establishment of a "solid majority" in the Italian parliament, but without specifying what political formations, after meeting with President Sergio Mattarella.
"In recent hours, we have launched all the necessary discussions to find a solid majority in the service of the citizens," said Luigi Di Maio, explaining that the M5S did not want an immediate return to the polls that "does not scare him" because "we still have so much to achieve".
Di Maio denounces Salvini's "summer vagaries"
"We will not let the ship sink," said the outgoing deputy prime minister, noting that his movement was the first party in parliament and had a relative majority around which to build a new coalition. "The citizens asked us in March 2018 to change this country in depth," said Luigi Di Maio, scratching without naming his ex-coalition partner, the leader of the League (far right) Matteo Salvini.
The Five Stars can not submit to "summer whims," he said, referring to the August 8 announcement by Matteo Salvini of the end of their alliance contracted 14 months earlier. Luigi Di Maio acknowledged the Movement's mistakes during his tenure as governor but stressed that the coalition was born of a "contract based on loyalty between political forces that was undermined by a unilateral rupture", a direct spike to the attention of Matteo Salvini.