There should be another general
election if the one early next year produces an inconclusive
result, ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday.
He said the Gentiloni government should stay in power and
"allow an election campaign that won't be very short, at least
three months, that can allow the parties to set out their
platforms to the voters".
The next general election is expected in March or May.
Current polls say there will not be an outright winner.
The centre-right coalition led by Berlusconi and featuring
his centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, the anti-euro,
anti-migrant League (L) and the small nationalist Brothers of
Italy (FdI) party is ahead in the polls over the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), which is second on its
own, and the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD), which is
third.
The conservative coalition has around 32-33% of popular
support, most polls show, while the M5S is on about 27-28% and
the PD has fallen to about 24%.
But PD leader and ex-premier Matteo Renzi has pledged that
the PD will be the biggest party after the election.
Several observers have said a revived grand coalition between
the PD and FI might be the only possibility to rule Italy after
the vote.
But Berlusconi on Wednesday ruled this out.
"The left is too leftist," he said.
The three-time former premier also reiterated a pledge to
"renew" FI ahead of the vote.
Many incumbent MPs will not stand again," he said.
Berlusconi said FI "will present protagonists of business,
the professions, the universities, and of the high ranks of the
third sector".
League leader Matteo Salvini said Wednesday that the party
was suspending all talks and meetings with FI until they
received an official explanation of the latter's vote against a
fast-track procedure for the Molteni Law.
The law would cancel sentence reductions for serious crimes
including murder and rape.
FI voted against the procedure in the justice committee of
the Senate.
"This is shameful," Salvini added. "It is the latest in a
long strong of offenses to women and all the victims of
violence."
In response, Berlusconi said that he would not comment on the
matter for the time being and that "I want to meet with Salvini
and speak about these things with him. I never considered these
things. These are decision made by the parliamentary groups.
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