In Italy, the alliance cracks but does not break | Voltage …

From Rome

After the European legislative elections in late May in which the League was ranked as the first party in Italy, the cries of victory and the pride of its leader, the Italian Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini , who only wants to do what he sees as only provoking problems within the government, also formed by the Five Star Movement (M5S) led by the other Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Work, Luigi di Maio. Problems that apparently blocked the march of the government to the point that on Monday, at an unusual press conference, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte threatened to leave if the problems were not resolved.

We are on the brink of abyss, said several media, that is, on the brink of a government crisis that could mean its downfall and a call for new elections, as would like apparently Mr. Salvini.

But to understand this complex political framework, we must proceed step by step. We must first remind ourselves that this is not a presidential country. The president has few powers. The power resides in Parliament where, in general, but not always, the party with the relative majority, that is to say that it has more deputies and senators, receives the right to vote. order of the President of the Republic to form a government. And this majority party is the M5S which, after the Italian elections of 2018, has 219 deputies (more than 630) and 107 senators (more than 315) in Parliament, against 123 deputies and 58 senators of the League.

That is why the League would be the most interested in overthrowing the government, convinced that after the results of the European elections of May 26, which gathered 34.3% of the vote against 17.1 of the M5S, a new election in the Peninsula would take it to power as the first party. And if that were the case, the league could quickly enter into alliances with Forza Italia of Silvio Berlusconi, who wants to form a center-right government, and with Fratelli d'Italia, from the right Giorgia Meloni, who to European elections a great-grandson of Benito Mussolini among its candidates.

At Monday's press conference, Mr. Conte called on both parties to begin the "second step" of the government, which means somehow discussing issues that should be immediately implemented and that are written in the " contract". government "that signed the two parties before starting to govern, but that by the disputes of the last months have been frozen.

And on all points under study (flat tax, a fixed rate of 15% of the income of all Italians, no increase in VAT, VAT or a tunnel that would connect the north of Italy to France, public procurement, the repatriation of so-called "illegal immigrants", disagreement with the European Union on the accounts of the Italian state, among others) Conté called for a "clear and rapid response "otherwise he would resign to the President of the Republic.

One of the most urgent and important things that the government should do is to discuss with the EU its economic plan, which has been the subject of several criticisms from the economic authorities of the European Union. This week, an EU response to Minister Giovanni Tria's letter, explaining the economic measures, should be received. If an agreement is not found, Italy could suffer sanctions. And these sanctions can represent a debacle for Italy at the national and international levels, both economically and financially. On this particular point, Conte clearly called on his two deputy prime ministers to deal with the EU.

The reactions of the opposition to the government were immediate. "Conte has admitted the paralysis, the disaster and the failure of his government that we denounce for weeks," said the leader of the Democratic Party, Nicola Zingaretti. According to Zingaretti, Conté should appear before Parliament and check whether there is still a parliamentary majority that has already supported him.

Salvini and Di Maio did not want to give alarming signals and yesterday they spoke by phone, which they had not done for weeks. Prime Minister Conte, for his part, judged "very positive" that after his press conference held yesterday, Salvini and Di Maio spoke again. "The resumption of dialogue is a good first step," sources close to the prime minister said.

But the thing did not stop there. Di Maio also preferred to meet with the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, to ensure that his party is determined to continue to sit in the government. Mattarella, for his part, expressed his concern about the progress of the economy and the need to adjust the state accounts.

According to the press, the two leaders could meet in Rome on Wednesday or Thursday. There are still a few things to clarify and the question many are asking is how long the dialogue will last, since Salvini now feels powerful enough to impose his will.