New parties and alliances are forming in the run-up to the snap parliamentary elections in Italy. Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio has announced a new center-left party that could form an alliance with the Social Democrats. She is said to have been inspired by Pope Francis.
Pope Francis on Saturday called on the Italian parties to take responsibility. According to his own statement, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio was inspired by this. The 36-year-old left his five-star movement after turbulence in 2020. Di Maio was especially feuding with former prime minister and current chairman Giuseppe Conte. He then set up his own parliamentary group, which included some 60 MPs from the Five Star Movement.
Various positions continued
The different positions seemed to condense. Di Maio and Conte disagreed over arms supplies to Ukraine. While Conte called for no more arms deliveries and instead relying on diplomacy, Di Maio argued for further arms deliveries. As for Ukraine, the foreign minister is expected to support the political line of non-partisan government leader Mario Draghi, who has since been deposed. This made him unpopular with parts of the Five Star Movement.
In an interview with Italian television channel Rai3 on Sunday evening, Di Maio announced that he was founding a new centre-left party. This is called Impegno civico (in English: Civic Action, note) and could be an ally with the Social Democrats (Partito Democratico/PD).
The Five Star Movement has been the largest party in Italy’s bicameral parliament since the 2018 general election and served as a board member of the cabinet of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s multi-party government. Two weeks ago, the party, along with the right-wing League and the right-wing conservative Forza, contributed to the overthrow of the government. The new parliament will be elected on 25 September.
Source: Krone
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