Premier Matteo Renzi on Monday
dismissed claims that his government's 2016 budget law was made
up primarily of gifts to win voters for his centre-left
Democratic Party (PD).
"There are no gifts," Renzi said in a newsletter on his
website.
"There is a comprehensive design - lower taxes, the defence
of the weakest, simplification".
The budget bill has moved to the Senate for a third reading
after being approved by the Lower House at the weekend and there
is now a race to get it approved before the Christmas holidays.
It features the scrapping of the property-linked
local-services tax TASI on people's first homes and a
2.6-billion-euro package of extra spending on security and
culture in the wake of the bloody November 13 Islamist terrorist
attacks in Paris.
That package, in turn, includes an 80-euro bonus for police
and a 500-euro allocation for 18-year-olds to spend on cultural
activities.
The center-left premier went on to rebut accusations from
the opposition anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) -
currently the second-largest party in Italy after Renzi's
Democratic Party (PD) - of favoritism contained the government's
budget bill.
"The 5-Stars said this budget bill favors our friends,"
Renzi wrote.
"It's true. The government admits it thought of its friends
- because we think the Italian people have a right to their
government's friendship....Now taxes will be going down".
that the inconclusive outcome of Sunday's general elections in
Renzi also said Sunday's national election in Spain - which
produced no clear winner - has vindicated the Italicum election
reform that his government got approved this year.
The Italicum assigns bonus seats to the party that wins
more than 40% of the vote to ensure they have a working majority
in parliament.
A run-off takes places between the two top parties for the
bonus seats if none reaches the 40% threshold.
"Today's Spain seems like yesterday's Italy," Renzi said.
"Bless the Italicum, truly - there will be a clear winner,
and a ruling majority capable of governing," the premier
concluded.
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