Whoever emerges as top dog on
the centre right after the next general election should name the
coalition's premier candidate, former premier and Forza Italia
(FI) leader Silvio Berlusconi said Tuesday.
"Whoever gets more votes expresses the premier" Berlusconi
told Corriere della Sera newspaper.
His ally, Notthern League (LN) leader Matteo Salvini,
responded by saying: "perfect, that's how democracy works".
LN is currently polling slightly ahead of FI in most opinion
polls, at about 13.6% to 13.4%.
The next general election is expected in March.
Polls say a centre-right alliance would come out on top but
not get a majority.
FI is a centre-right party that belongs to the European
People's Party (EPP) caucus.
The anti-euro, anti-immigrant LN belongs to the rightwing
euroskeptic and nationalist Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENL)
caucus featuring France's Front National, Britain's UKIP,
Alternative for Germany Austria's and the Freedom Parties of
Netherlands and Austria.
In Italy, FI and FN are set to run in a coalition along with
the rightist Brothers of Italy (FdI) party led by Giorgia
Meloni.
photo: Berlusconi (L) with Salvini and Meloni in 2015
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