Rome (AFP)

The hypothesis of a government formed by the Democratic Party (PD, center left) and the 5 Stars Movement (M5S, antisystem) was reinforced Monday night in Italy, with a series of optimistic statements and a tight pace of meetings.

Nearly three weeks after blasting by the boss of the League (far right) Matteo Salvini of the unstable alliance formed only 14 months earlier with the M5S, the recomposition of the political landscape seems on track.

Talks intensified between the M5S and the PD, the first leftist force, to form a new executive, already called "yellow-pink" by the media, and agree on a prime minister.

"I am optimistic to build this agreement, we are on the right track." Forming a government is a serious thing, "said Nicola Zingaretti, chief of the DP, after briefly meeting with M5S chief Luigi Di Maio.

All smiles, the very sober social democratic leader assured that the negotiations were "finally opened for a government of change". Another meeting associating MM. Zingaretti and Di Maio to outgoing Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte began at 9 pm and promised to extend until late into the evening.

To resolve the crisis, the two teams are working on the assumption of reappointing Mr. Conte, which is one of the requirements of the M5S. In return, the Social Democrats of the PD would get a complete reshuffle of the government team.

The leader of the PD group in the Senate, Andrea Marcucci, said that Mr. Zingaretti did not pose a "veto" for the maintenance of Mr. Conte, whom he had criticized so far for having accepted the anti-migrant diktats of Matteo Salvini. , his Minister of the Interior for a little over a year.

According to political scientists, Mr. Conte, very popular in the country (54%), grew out of the crisis with Mr. Salvini, whom he treated in the Senate as "irresponsible" and "opportunist" for his appeal. to "immediate elections", before resigning with panache on August 20.

- Few alternatives -

The positions of the M5S and the DP converge on a reduction of the number of parliamentarians (reduced to 600 against nearly 950), and an economic program attentive to the weakest and respectful of the environment.

But within the M5S, based on the rejection of the old political class and crossed eurosceptic currents or marked on the left, the dissensions are strong. Part of the Five Stars refuses a wedding with the party of the former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, their sworn enemy.

The M5S, however, has few alternatives: even if it remains the first party in parliament under the legislative elections of 2018 (32% of the votes), it lost a lot of ground, with only 17% of the votes to the last Europeans, and going back to the polls would be suicidal.

For his part, Matteo Salvini seemed to acknowledge his defeat at a press conference Monday night.

"I am proud of the league's choice of freedom, we can escape the elections for a month, a year, but the judgment of the people will come sooner or later," added the leader of the Italian sovereignists, describing the probable alliance PD- M5S "reversal" that betrays the will of voters.

However, Salvini would no longer be interested in an early ballot in the fall. The League lost between 5 and 7 points of voting intentions in polls, to 31/33% against a record level of 36/38%, reached the day it blew up the coalition with the Five Stars, on the grounds that it was impossible to govern with them.

The verdict is expected no earlier than Wednesday. Italian President Sergio Mattarella has announced that he will hold further consultations with political parties from Tuesday.

Since Mr Conte's resignation last Tuesday, Mr Mattarella, the only one able to resolve the current crisis, has made it clear that he wants to act quickly to avoid prolonging the political instability of the third economy in the euro zone. Italy has yet to choose a name for its new European Commissioner to send to Brussels and adopt a budget for 2020, difficult to develop amidst sluggish growth and heavy debt.

© 2019 AFP