Roberto Fico (M5s) given the mandate to explore the formation of a government in Italy

Italian President Sergio Mattarella handed Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico an exploratory mandate to explore the possibility of a government-formation deal between his anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left democratic Party (PD). The deal was immediately rejected by the Chairman of the PD Matteo Orfini. M5S leader Luigi Di Maio said he was optimistic.

PD caretaker leader Maurizio Martina said, however, that the PD would hear what the M5S has to say as long as its alleged “ambiguous” stance of negotiating at the same time with the rightwing populist League was now at an end. Mattarella gave Fico until Thursday to report back on the possibility of an M5S-PD government.

Earlier on, the Centre-Right  won an indicative vote in the Italian region of Molise. In a reaction to this result Matteo Salvini called on 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Luigi Di Maio to have face-to-face talks about the formation of a new government.

As the leader of the centre right I ask Di Maio to meet and discuss issues face-to-face,” Salvini said. The issues include pension reform, labour reform, tax cuts, stopping VAT and duty increases, border checks, He argued that everyone should get off their pedestals and talk about issues rather than names.  He added that within days “we’ll give this country a government that will last five years.” 

Source: TGCOM24, Ansa, Rai