Members of the opposition 5-Star
Movement (M5S) on Thursday refused to meet with Justice Minister
Andrea Orlando to discuss the government's judicial reforms,
citing "disgust" over the government's dealings with ex-premier
Silvio Berlusconi and sparking a spat with Premier Matteo Renzi.
"They would negotiate with terrorists (from Islamic State
fundamentalist militia ISIS), but they won't talk to
government," Renzi tweeted.
Orlando, a member of the governing Democratic Party (PD),
is discussing reforms to Italy's justice system, a topic on the
agenda when the cabinet meets on August 29.
But Senators and members of the Lower House belonging to
the anti-establishment M5S said that they are disgusted with
Renzi and his government over an earlier pact reached with
Berlusconi and his Forza Italia (FI) party on Constitutional and
electoral reform.
Renzi last month unveiled an ambitious 12-point justice
reform plan he hopes to see passed in September.
The reforms would simplify civil law to cut the average
time for a civil case to about one year in the court of first
instance, as well as halving a huge backlog of cases to remove a
major block on foreign investment in Italy.
Italy's snail-paced penal justice system would also be
streamlined.
As well, in a bid to address public concern over waves of
corruption scandals, the reform would restore false accounting
to the status of a full-blown crime from the misdemeanour,
non-custodial status Berlusconi had reduced it to.
The M5S later on Thursday replied to the premier from the
blog of movement founder Beppe Grillo.
"We won't take lessons from a convict's crony," an M5S MP
wrote in reference to Berlusconi and Renzi.
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