Logo

Logo

# World

Italian president gives Giuseppe Conte mandate to form new government

M5S chief Luigi Di Maio said that the deal with the PD will have to be approved by his party’s members in an online vote, which could take place by this weekend.

SNS | New Delhi | August 29, 2019 3:42 pm

Italian president gives Giuseppe Conte mandate to form new government

Giuseppe Conte -- an academic chosen as a compromise prime minister last year -- is expected to be given a few days for political consultations to ensure a working parliamentary majority for a new government (Photo: AFP)

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has given prime minister Giuseppe Conte a mandate to form a new government on Thursday, following a deal to stave off snap elections.

President Sergio Mattarella handed Giuseppe Conte a fresh mandate to put together a new coalition of the 5 Star Movement (M5S) and opposition Democratic Party (PD), a presidential official said.

Advertisement

M5S chief Luigi Di Maio said that the deal with the PD will have to be approved by his party’s members in an online vote, which could take place by this weekend.

Advertisement

The crisis was triggered on August 8 when popular far-right leader Matteo Salvini pulled his League party out of the governing coalition with M5S, calling for fresh elections he thought would make him premier.

“Any new government formed by these unlikely bedfellows has the potential to be a fairly short-lived affair, given that the onus will now fall on a new administration to implement new EU mandated spending reductions of up to 23 billion euros this autumn,” Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK said.

“These are not expected to be popular and likely to feed into the populist narrative of Matteo Salvini,” he added.

Salvini said that his party was confident it would win eventual new elections next year, saying “we’re in no hurry”.

Advertisement

Related posts