Thursday is a crunch day for
Italy's government-formation or election consultations as
President Sergio Mattarella meets the big parties to map a way
forward.
The head of State met the centre-left Democratic Party (PD)
at 11 o'clock while he will wind up his consultations with the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) at five o'clock.
PD leader Nicola Zingaretti said the PD was open to a
"turning-point government" with the M5S or else early elections
in late October.
Zingaretti on Wednesday laid down five conditions for a
possible government with the M5S, their former fierce foes.
These include a change from the tough anti-migrant policies
of League leader Matteo Salvini, who pulled the plug on a
14-month executive with the M5S accusing them of inaction on
August 8.
In informal talks with the M5S, the PD was also reported to
have set three other conditions: the abolition of Salvini's
security and migrants decrees; a "pre-accord" on a budget that
must be approved with EU assent by the end of the year; and a
stop to the M5S's cherished reduction of the number of MPs and
Senators from 945 to 600.
Another big stumbling block is that the M5S are insisting on
caretaker Premier Giuseppe Conte keeping his job in a new
administration, something which Zingaretti has vetoed.
The possibility of naming a woman premier, possibly former
justice minister Paola Severino or Constitutional Court Vice
President Marta Cartabia, has been aired by some observers in a
bid to meet Zingaretti's insistence on "discontinuity" from the
M5S-League government.
Mattarella also met the other centre-right party, Silvio
Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI), at noon, after which three-time
former premier Berlusconi called for a centre-right government
or fresh elections.
He had already seen Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI),
which reiterated that the only option was a rapid general
election.
Mattarella started consultations with the League at around
four o'clock.
M5S leader Luigi Di Maio has said he will reply to the PD's
offer once he has seen Mattarella, with talks scheduled to start
at five o'clock.
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