Solve points tonight, no vote in March says Salvini

(ANSA) - Rome, November 7 - League leader Matteo Salvini said Wednesday outstanding points of contention with ally the 5-Star Movement (M5S) including statute of limitations reform would be worked out by Wednesday night and there was no chance of the government collapsing paving the way for a general election in March.
    Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Salvini said Wednesday all points of contention with the M5S "will be resolved by tonight". Asked about M5S leader Luigi Di Maio's insistence on stopping the statute of limitations after first-instance trials, Salvini said "with (Premier Giuseppe) Conte and Di Maio we've been working well for five months, on justice we have to find the right way with humility and good sense." He said this was "because it is right to punish the corrupt and the corrupters but trials have to have a beginning and an end".
    Salvini has previously said that he is open to some reform of the statute of limitations but "trials can't be infinite, for the sake of the innocent as well as the guilty".
    On Wednesday he reiterated that he was in favour of "a reform but not the abolition of the statute of limitations".
    Salvini also squashed speculation there might be another general election in March because of intermittent and recently rising friction with the M5S.
    "We're not going to the polls in March," he said.
    "When I make a commitment with a party or the Italians I give my soul and blood to respect it. I've committed to cancelling the Fornero (pension reform), we've put 7 billion in, we'll lower taxes, but I want to be here for five years because I can't do everything at once. I won't pull down the government just because the opinion polls say the League is the top party in Italy".
    A pension overhaul, 'flat tax' for the self-employed and a basic income for job seekers and the poor are key parts of the 2019 budget bill, which has been rejected by Brussels.