Parliament opens amid political deadlock
No hope of Speaker agreement in sight
15 March, 11:38
(ANSA) - Rome, March 15 - The 17th legislature of the
Italian Republic opened Friday amid political deadlock as
Italy's three biggest parties failed to agree on candidates for
Speakers or anything else.
Both the Chamber and the Senate are called on to elect a
Speaker during their first session.
The impasse is the result of the hung parliament resulting
from February's general elections, which gave the centre-left
coalition led by Democratic Party (PD) secretary Pier Luigi
Bersani a clear majority in the lower house but no party or
grouping a working majority in the equally powerful Senate.Since then PD representatives have been trying to forge an agreement with the anti-establishment and populist 5-Star Movement (M5S) of comedian Beppe Grillo, which took a total of 162 seats in parliament, but so far talks have been inconclusive. The centre-right People of Freedom (PdL) party of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, which came second to the centre left, said Friday its elected representatives would cast blank ballots in the Speaker elections.
On Thursday Bersani had said members of his party would do the same. M5S will vote for its two candidates for Senate and Chamber Speakers, respectively Luis Alberto Orellana and Roberto Fico, ''without outside influence''.
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