Premier Giuseppe Conte said Friday
that he will only stay on if he has the support of all of the
parties that form the governing coalition.
He was speaking after ex-premier Matteo Renzi threatened to pull
the plug on the executive by withdrawing the support of his
centrist Italia Viva (IV) party.
"I have the full responsibility of this position and and
awareness of it," Conte told a press conference in Brussels at
the end of the EU summit.
"I am fully aware of the fact that I'll keep going (only) with
the confidence of each party in the ruling majority and all of
the parties combined.
"There has been criticism and we will have talks. It is our duty
to talk with Italia Viva and the others," he added when asked if
Italy may have early elections in 2021.
"We need determination and trust to be able to keep going. The
challenges are too big to face them in a different way".
There has been tension bubbling up within the ruling alliance
for some time.
Renzi has been calling on Conte to drop the idea of forming a
task-force on the use of the money Italy will get from the EU
Recovery Fund, arguing there is a risk of parliament being
sidelined.
"If Conte wants full powers like Salvini, then I say no," Renzi
told Spnaish daily El Pais, referring to a famous comment made
by League leader and former interior minister Matteo Salvini.
When asked if he would be willing to pull the plug on the
government if Conte did not make a U-turn, Renzi replied: "Yes
because it is not a problem of positions, which they have
offered me... the mechanism of the debate about the
institutional rules cannot be compensated by a little deal".
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