Sports Minister Luca Lotti said
Thursday that his Democratic Party (PD) was ready to listen to
President Sergio Mattarella's call for responsibility after
Sunday's inconclusive election.
But he added that the appeal should be primarily directed at
the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the right-wing
Northern League, the two parties that made the biggest gains in
the election.
"If we want to be serious, we are always ready to listen to
the words of President Mattarella and his appeal for
responsibility," Lotti said via Twitter.
"Instead of speaking of the PD - which lost and will be in
the opposition - perhaps the time has come to see what the
winners, (League leader Matteo) Salvini and (M5S premier
candidate Luigi) Di Maio, want to do".
Lotti, who is considered close to outgoing PD leader Matteo
Renzi, also took a swipe at Justice Minister Andrea Orlando, who
has called on the centre-left party to analyse the reasons for
its defeat.
He picked up on the fact that Orlando failed to be elected in
the first-past-the-post contest he was in and only got a seat in
parliament thanks to the "parachute" of his position in a list
for lawmakers elected via proportional representation.
"Minister Orlando was right when he asked for a debate about
the PD, within the PD," Lotti said on Facebook.
"That way we'll be able to talk about those who lost in the
constituency of residence and were saved by a parachute, about
those who opted not to run and those who won without a
parachute.
"Hearing those who have never won an election in their life
pontificate about election results is getting embarrassing".
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