President Sergio Mattarella is
meeting Carlo Cottarelli on Monday and is expected to give the
former spending review commissioner a premier mandate amid
Italy's unprecedented institutional crisis.
An effort to form a 5-Star Movement/League government led by
law professor Giuseppe Conte collapsed on Sunday when Mattarella
refused to approve the nomination of Euroskeptic economist Paolo
Savona as economy minister, citing the risk of financial
turbulence.
This prompted a furious reaction from League leader Matteo
Salvini, who accused the president of representing the interests
of other states instead of Italy, and M5S leader Luigi Di Maio,
who has called for the head of State's impeachment.
Mattarella is expected to ask Cottarelli to try to form an
interim government until new elections can be held, presumably
later this year.
Italy has been in the hands of Premier Paolo Gentiloni's
outgoing executive since the inconclusive March 4 election.
The president, meanwhile, said Monday that it was necessary
to stay true to democratic principles to combat the ever-present
threat of intolerance on the 44th anniversary of Piazza della
Loggia bombing in Brescia that killed eight people and injured
102 on May 28, 1974.
"We have to keep common democratic sensibility high and
remain faithful to the principles that inspire coexistence to
defeat those who still intend to sow intolerance and fear," he
said.
"The threat of violence has never been wiped out in our
community.
"We are all witnesses to how it can take on new forms and
methods in the pursuit of the same objective - to hit the
dignity of people and their freedom".
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