Fatih Hafız Mehmet
09 August 2019•Update: 10 August 2019
ROME
A party in the ruling coalition in Italy submitted on Friday a motion of no-confidence in current government to the Senate, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
The crisis in the current government broke on Thursday, when Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who is also leader of the League Party, called for snap elections, citing the coalition government’s inability to agree on policy issues.
"Too many no's are hurting Italy which needs development. Therefore, Italy should go to elections," the League Party said, referring to its coalition partner 5-Star Movement (M5S).
Amid the motion, Senate chief Elisabetta Casellati called the heads of political groups in the parliament for a meeting on Monday,
Tensions within the coalition of Salvini’s right-wing League party and the populist M5S have been high recently over an infrastructure project involving a high-speed rail link with France.
M5S presented a motion to kill the project, but it was rejected by the Senate with votes from League party lawmakers.
The two parties blamed each other for the deep divisions within the coalition, prompting Salvini to call for new elections.
M5S and the League party formed a coalition government on June 1, 2018 under the leadership of technocrat Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
* Writing by Fatih Hafiz Mehmet
