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27 February 2013

FT: Grillo kills move to break Italy deadlock


First attempts to find a way out of Italy's political deadlock have suffered an early setback, after a proposal by the centre-left Democrats to form a minority government following inconclusive elections this week was effectively killed off by the leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement.

Beppe Grillo announced that his movement would not give a vote of confidence in parliament to a government led by either the centre-left or Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right party. Mr Grillo also criticised Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the Democrats, as the “talking dead”, describing him as a “political stalker who has been making indecent proposals to the Five Star Movement for days, instead of resigning as anyone else would have done in his position". The political uncertainty hanging over Italy had an immediate impact on its finances, with the Treasury having to offer sharply higher interest rates to sell €6.5 billion of long-term debt.

Mr Bersani, whose centre-left coalition will have a majority in parliament’s lower house but not the senate, asked the Five Star Movement on Tuesday to support a minority government. Mr Bersani proposed a five-point programme including political reforms, anti-corruption measures and an easing of austerity measures imposed by Mario Monti’s technocrat government. In an effort to win over Mr Grillo, he also suggested that the Five Star Movement could take the important post of speaker of the lower house – a suggestion that outraged Mr Berlusconi’s coalition, the second largest bloc in a highly-fragmented parliament.

The first hurdle for a new government to clear is to win confidence votes in both chambers of parliament, a process that may only begin late next month. With 54 seats in the 315-member senate, the Five Star Movement holds the balance of power between the two main parties. Mr Monti’s new centrist group won only 19 seats, insufficient to give either Mr Bersani or Mr Berlusconi a majority.

Full article (FT subscription required)



© Financial Times


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