An online vote by grass-roots
members of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement on forming a
government with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) will take
place from 09:00 to 18:00 Tuesday, the M5S said Sunday.
M5S leader Luigi Di Maio said Monday the fate of the possible
new government will be decided by the vote on the Rousseau
platform.
M5S Senate Whip Stefano Patuanelli said Monday that if the
response is no then premier-designate Giuseppe Conte will have
to tell President Sergio Mattarella that his
government-formation bid has failed.
Conte is expected to go and see Mattarella either on Tuesday
evening, or more probably, on Wednesday evening, when he will
'drop his reservations' on forming the new government if a deal
has been made.
The new government would replace that between the M5S and the
anti-migrant Euroskeptic League party, on which League leader
and outgoing interior minister Matteo Salvini pulled the plug on
August 8 citing M5S inaction.
A big hurdle facing a deal is the PD's insistence on a change
from Salvini's policy of denying Italian port access to NGO
migrant rescue ships.
M5S leader Luigi Di Maio has said the M5S will not disown the
last government's policies in this area.
But PD leader Nicola Zingaretti on Sunday called for two
ships that had been banned from entering Italian waters, the
Mare Jonio and the Alan Kurdi, to be allowed to land their total
of 44 migrants.
On Monday a third ship, the Eleonore, started heading for
Sicily and Salvini vowed to keep it out.
But the Eleonore docked at Pozzallo - while the Mare Jonio
was given permission to land at Lampedusa.
Another obstacle to a government deal is Di Maio's insistence
on keeping the deputy premier's job.
The PD said Sunday the new government should dispense with
deputy premiers altogether, solving the problem.
On Monday Zingaretti told Conte that a "radical" change was
needed from the last government's closed ports policy
led by Salvini.
The Alan Kurdi is is still engaged in one of the standoffs
with Salvini that have boosted the League leader's poll numbers.
But amid the high-profile standoffs with the NGOs,
lower-profile so-called 'ghost landings of migrants directly
from north Africa, not picked up by NGO ships, have been
continuing apace.
"What is happening in these hours in the Mediterranean, amid
continuous landings on our coasts and inhuman bans, confirms
that the immigration policies of the last few months have not
solved anything," said Zingaretti.
"I once more ask premier(-designate) Conte to immediately
tackle the situation of persons blocked at sea in conditions of
humanitarians emergency and, obviously, we continue to ask that
we should gear up for a radical turnaround in the policies on
these issues."
The PD's likely government partner in the M5S have said they
will not change Salvini's policies.
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