The anti-establishment 5-Star
Movement M5S) on Friday rebuffed a perceived overture on a
possible future alliance from the anti-immigrant, anti-euro
Northern League (LN).
(M5S) bigwig Roberto Fico turned down LN leader Matteo
Salvini's tentative offer saying the two parties' stances were
"light years apart".
He said that, unlike Salvini, the M5S does not talk about
bulldozing Roma camps, "the M5S does not wage cryptofascist
campaigns."
Fico, the RAI State broadcaster parliamentary oversight
commission chair, said "the distance on visions, ideas and
contents is light years...especially on the migrant question."
He said "in Italy there is an emergency which must be
contained and governed, unlike what has been done in the last 20
years by parties, via common-sense measures, which we have
proposed on several occasions in parliament."
Earlier Salvini said LN's "natural alliance" was with the
centre right featuring ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza
Italia (FI) party but that M5S leader Beppe Grillo was "welcome"
after recently saying there were too many migrants and Roma
gypsies in Italy.
The M5S's recent swivel to a hardline stance on migrants and
Roma has led many commentators to suggest it might ally with LN
at the general election, currently expected to take place early
next year.
The M5S has denied reports its guru Davide Casaleggio met
with Salvini to discuss a possible alliance in an unknown
location recently.
Another M5S bigwig, Lower House Deputy Speaker Luigi Di Maio,
ha said he will sue La Repubblica daily editor-in-chief Mario
Calabresi for carrying a report of the alleged meeting, and
Casaleggio has said he will do the same unless Calabresi comes
up with a date for the meeting.
La Repubblica stands by the story.
The M5S has always said it will never cut deals with any of
Italy's traditional parties, which it sees as representing a
corrupt establishment.
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