Premier-designate Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday returned to President Sergio Mattarella and formally ‘dropped his reservations’ about forming a government between the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).
The new government is expected to face confidence votes starting Friday.
Conte, who also headed the last M5S-League government on which anti-migrant Euroskeptic League leader Matteo Salvini pulled the plug on August 8, is expected to hand Mattarella the list of his ministers which the president must vet.
Salvini called time on the alliance with the M5S hoping to capitalise on surging poll numbers.
He never thought that sworn enemies the M5S and the PD would get together to prevent a snap election.
The M5S-PD alliance led by Conte was approved Tuesday night by almost 80% of grassroots M5S members on their online voting platform Rousseau.
M5S leader Luigi Di Maio called the vote a “plebiscite” for change based on the 20 points the M5S has managed to insert into Conte’s 26-point programme.
“From blocking the VAT hike to the minimum wage, from the cut in the tax wedge to aid to families and the disabled, from the stop to incinerators to the (stop to) (offshore) drilling, from justice reform to the law on conflict of interest, and (taking” motorway concessions (away from the Autostrade company), we have included our key points” he said.
A draft of the programme on the M5S blog also said that on migrants and security, where the PD wants a clean break with the closed ports policy of outgoing interior minister and Salvini, “the security laws will have to be updated according to the recent observations of President Mattarella”, who said that some norms were against international treaties on saving lives at sea.
The Cabinet is expected to be as follows according to Sky:
