PD out to be alternative to 'dangerous' govt - Zingaretti

(ANSA) - Rome, May 27 - Democratic Party (PD) leader Nicola Zingaretti said his opposition centre-left group was aiming to be the alternative to the "dangerous" government headed by Premier Giuseppe Conte after the European elections. The PD won 22.69% of the vote, making it a distant second to the League of Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, which got 34.33%.
    The other party in Conte's coalition government, the 5-Star Movement (M5S), got a disappointing 17.07% of the vote.
    "Salvini has emerged as the real leader of a static, dangerous government," said Zingaretti, who took over the PD earlier this year after it slumped to its worst-ever showing at in the 2018 general election. "We are aiming to construct an alternative to Salvini to be credible for the next general election.
    "The government has emerged even more fragile because of its internal divisions". Zingaretti added that the "attack of nationalists in Europe has failed". He said that PD will have the second-biggest delegation within the social-democrat PES group in the European Parliament.
    "The League and the M5S will be marginal," he said.
    "We will be lead players in an alliance that will govern the European institutions and we will defend Italy".