No to govt at all costs says Delrio

(ANSA) - Rome, December 5 - Centre-left Democratic Party (PD) House caucus leader Graziano Delrio said the PD was against "a government at all costs" in a row with its main partner, the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), over a reform to Italy's statute of limitations.
    "The PD does not enter o remain in government at all costs because if the problems are not resolved it is clear that we aren't staying there to keep our seats warm," Delrio said.
    M5S leader, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, earlier vowed that the M5S reform of the statute of limitations would come into force on the first of January.
    Premier Giuseppe Conte, caught in the middle in the row, said he would trust a technical committee to "come up with a solution".
    PD leader Nicola Zingaretti urged the M5S to "set aside senseless polemics" and stressed that "you can't govern together if you feel you are adversaries".
    The reform of the statute of limitations is creating a fresh headache for the government coalition amid ongoing tension over the reform of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund.
    The M5S has vouched for the statute of limitations changes while its partners, the PD and Matteo Renzi's new centrist Italia Viva (IV), have been hitting the brakes.
    In an interview to Rome daily Messaggero published on Wednesday ex-premier Renzi warned that he was ready to vote a proposal presented by centre-right Forza Italia (FI) opposition lawmaker Enrico Costa to halt the measure.
    "We will not bow to judicial populism and if there will be no agreement" on the reform within the cabinet coalition "we will vote Enrico Costa's" proposal, Renzi told the newspaper.
    The reform promoted by anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) Justice Minister Alfonso Bonafede stops the statute of limitations after first-instance trials.
    The justice ministry has said it does not intend to change the measure, which was tabled by the previous government, formed by the M5S and the rightist nationalist League party.
    Costa has proposed to halt the reform to stop the statute of limitations after the first rung of Italy's three-tier justice system, which comes into effect on January 1, 2020.
    Premier Conte said the cabinet was working for a "compromise" on the reform in order to stop to the statute of limitations after first-instance trials "but with measures ensuring the reasonable length of a trial" to quicken Italy's snail-paced justice system.
    League leader Matteo Salvini said on Thursday "if it's a question of voting for something that avoids harming Italians I would even vote for Mickey Mouse".