POLITICA
Italy’s Centre-left wants to team with Macron to counter nationalist blocs.
On the other side of the political spectrum, the new leader of Italy’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD), Nicola Zingaretti, has pledged to build bridges with other pro-EU parties in the EU elections, most notably Emmanuel Macron’s La Republique en Marche. While this does not indicate any formal alliance, as the PD’s 27 candidates predominantly remain in the centre-left Socialist and Democrats bloc (S&D), Zinagretti is keen to cooperate closely with the likes of Macron to oppose nationalism and Euroskepticism in the upcoming elections. He puts emphasis on common unemployment benefits and a stronger European Union, warning against the international isolation that the current populist government are threatening for Italy, definitively summarising ‘The priority is for the pro-EU camp to unite against nationalist populists.” The party is set to win 21 percent of the vote, ranking third in Italy. While this is a big drop from the last EU election under Matteo Renzi, it would be an improvement of its general election result of only 17%. As the clout of Europe’s nationalists grow stronger, the centre-left will have to strengthen ties to try to match them.
Ousting of League junior minster causes tension between ruling coalition parties.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was forced to sack Junior Minister Armando Siri last month amid his involvement in a corruption scandal. Siri, a transport ministry undersecretary and economic adviser to Salvini, was being investigated last month over accusations of accepting a €30,000 bribe from a Mafia involved wind farm businessman in return for pushing specific energy policies. This caused tension between the ruling coalition parties, the League and 5Star Movement. While the former fiercely resisted the decision to sack Siri, denying his wrongdoing and even threatening to withdraw support for Conte, the latter have reinforced their no-tolerance to corruption stance, repeatedly calling for Siri’s ousting. 5Star leader Luigi Di Maio said he was ‘very proud’ of Conte’s decision to sack Siri in the face of Italy’s corruption ‘national emergency’, assuring that despite the rift between the parties, the coalition would remain in power for the full term. The result is a win for the 5star populist party, who are set to receive 22% of the vote in the EU elections – the 2nd largest in Italy – as part of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy political group.
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Andrea Zhok