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POLITICS

In Italy, the battle for next year’s election is just beginning

Italy's main political forces began in earnest on Sunday to plot strategies for the upcoming general election, as the country's finance minister raised a red flag over political uncertainty in the eurozone's third largest economy.

In Italy, the battle for next year's election is just beginning
Outgoing PM Paolo Gentiloni gestures during his end-of-year press conference. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

The March 4th vote, which will pit a strong centre-right coalition against populists and a divided left, is widely expected to produce a hung parliament — a prediction already spooking international markets.

A coalition between the outgoing centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and billionaire Silvio Berlusconi's Go Italy (FI) could be on the cards, Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera daily.

“In a context of high uncertainty nothing can be ruled out. Such uncertainty is already being perceived. Financial markets are rather nervous: when parliament was dissolved (in December), the spread widened,” he said.

The spread between Italian and German 10-Year sovereign bonds was scrutinized daily during the 2011 debt crisis, and the fear that the heavily-indebted country could topple over the financial cliff and drag Europe with it has been hard to shift.

The anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), which supports a hotchpotch of policies from across the ideological spectrum, is the leading single party in opinion polls, with some 28 percent of the vote, ahead of the PD's 25 percent.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about Italy's upcoming 2018 election

Lions and chickens

But sailing comfortably ahead is a centre-right coalition made up of Berlusconi's Go Italy, the anti-immigrant Northern League and smaller right-wing Brothers of Italy, currently forecast to take home over 35 percent of the vote.

Under a new electoral law, roughly 40 percent of the vote is needed to govern.

Parties across the spectrum are pledging to cut taxes and challenge the European Union over its strict budget rules, but efforts to woo voters with cures for a shy economy may be overshadowed by concerns over immigration.

Outgoing PM Paolo Gentiloni appealed to voters on Sunday “not to shut yourselves away in the small world of daily fears” in a reference to the wave of voter anger over the number of asylum seekers in Italy — anger that has boosted the right.

READ ALSO: An introduction to Italy's small political parties

The centre-right coalition leaders met for a working lunch on Sunday at Berlusconi's luxury Milan villa, the main course served with a side-helping of debate over how they will split seats in parliament.

Berlusconi, 81, is not able to run for office owing to a tax fraud conviction, but wants his party to get the lion's share.

League head Matteo Salvini, 44, has ambitions of his own, tweeting: “Salvini for Prime Minister”. “It's a bit soon to be counting chickens,” retorted the M5S's candidate for prime minister, Luigi Di Maio.

The movement is determined to go it alone and has refused to counter alliances with traditional parties — which did not stop the new Free and Equal party, a breakaway wing of the PD, suggesting a deal could be done with the populists.

“We'll speak with everyone — apart from the right, but that's a question of mental hygiene,” leftist stalwart Pier Luigi Bersani said at the party's conference in Rome.

By Ella Ide

 

TERRORISM

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy was to increase surveillance in busy areas ahead of the Easter holidays and following the bombing of a Moscow concert hall, ministers agreed on Monday.

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy’s national committee for public security, chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, on Monday said anti-terrorism monitoring in Italy must be strengthened ahead of the Easter holidays, with more surveillance to be carried out at popular tourist spots and at “sensitive sites”.

The committee agreed on “the importance of continuing monitoring activity, including online, by police and intelligence forces for the identification of possible risk situations” in Italy, reported news agency Ansa.

The security meeting was convened following the terrorist attack in Moscow on Friday where armed men opened fire and set the building ablaze, killing at least 133 people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had stressed to the public on Sunday that Italy faced “no concrete risk” and said the country’s security and law enforcement services were “always on the alert to prevent any attack.”

“During the Easter holidays you will need to be very careful. We will always do the utmost to ensure the safety of citizens and tourists,” Tajani said, speaking on national broadcaster Rai’s current affairs show Restart.

READ ALSO: Terror alerts: Should I be worried about travelling to Italy?

The fight against terrorism “has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine,” the minister continued.

“We support Ukraine” as an invaded country in which international law has been violated, he said, “but as the Italian government we have expressed our condemnation of the attack [in Moscow] and closeness to the families of the victims and the survivors”.

Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano said on the same programme that the main terrorist threat Italy faced at the moment was mainly from “lone wolves” and “not so much from organised groups.”

“I believe that a group like the one that acted in the Moscow attack, which must have been trained and had logistical support, would be intercepted sooner in Italy,” he said.

“The most worrying threat” in Italy was online recruitment, he said, noting that propaganda was closely monitored.

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