M5S willing to stay in govt says Conte after Draghi talks

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 6 - 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday that the group was ready to continue to support the government after 'clear-the-air' talks with Premier Mario Draghi.
    But ex-premier Conte also said there needed to be "discontinuity," calling for interventions to help workers and businesses via cuts to the labour-tax wedge.
    Tension has been high since Conte reacted furiously to recent reports, which Draghi denied, that the premier had asked for his predecessor's ouster as M5S chief.
    The friction has led to reports that the M5S could pull out of Draghi's broad coalition government of national unity.
    "We spoke to Draghi," Conte said.
    "We handed him a document in the name of the M5S.
    "We have accumulated a mass of strong political unease.
    "We are willing to share the responsibility of government, as we have done up to now in a loyal, constructive way, but a strong signal of discontinuity is needed".
    He added that the M5S would not allow the much-criticized 'citizenship-wage' benefit for the poor and jobless, a flagship M5S measure that was brought in during the first of Conte's two government's, to be "called into question".
    Conte said Draghi would take some time to assess the M5S's demands.
    There has also been friction over the '110% Superbonus' scheme to give rebates for renovation work to make buildings more energy efficient, with the M5S insisting this must continue.
    Draghi has expressed concerns about the cost of the measure and the risk of it distorting prices in the construction sector.
    The 'de-escalation' meeting had been set to take place on Monday but was postponed due to the Marmolada glacier disaster. (ANSA).