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".
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