(ANSA) - Rome, September 20 - Foreign Minister and 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Luigi Di Maio said Friday that how the Democratic Party (PD) acts when it comes to the bill to cut the number of Italian parliamentarians by over 300 will be the true test of whether the centre-left group are trustworthy government partners. He was commenting after M5S bigwig Alessandro Di Battista said the PD could not be trusted. The M5S and the PD, traditionally fierce rivals, made a pact to form a new government under Premier Giuseppe Conte after League leader and former interior minister Matteo Salvini pulled the plug on Conte's League-M5S government last month.
    "Some say 'don't trust the PD', 'be careful'. I say to everyone: trust needs to be shown!" Di Maio said on his blog.
    "In this case, the proof is votes in parliament.
    "And the first test of this government is the cut in the number of parliamentarians.
    "This should be completed in the first two weeks of October.
    "Then the real test for us and for this government will be the budget law in December.
    "The minimum requirement is to avoid the increase in value added tax (scheduled to kick in next year).
    "We must give workers a minimum wage and lower taxes.
    Otherwise what are we doing in government?" Twice premier and former European Commission President Romano Prodi, meanwhile, said that parties based on the personality of a charismatic leader can only be effective in the short term when commenting on Matteo Renzi's split with the PD.
    "Personal parties work the first time, there are problems when they are repeated," Prodi told Friday's edition of La Repubblica. Ex-premier Renzi was frequently accused of trying to hold an autocratic command of the centre-left group when he was its leader, as well as of taking it too far to the right of the political spectrum. This week he quit the PD to form his own party, Italia Viva (Italy Alive), which has around 40 lawmakers in the Senate and the Lower House. Before leaving the PD, Renzi was instrumental in the party forming a pact with the M5S for a second Conte government. Renzi has said his new group will continue to support the government. Prodi said that Renzi's move was predictable and that he did not think it would have an impact on the new Conte executive. He said Conte's new government has a chance of going the distance if it tackles Italy's problems, including widespread tax evasion.