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Italy’s League and Five Star Movement pledge to get parliament working ASAP

On the eve of a second round of coalition talks, the leaders of Italy's two driving political parties said they would work towards establishing a functioning government as soon as possible.

Published: 11 April 2018 18:57 CEST
Italy's League and Five Star Movement pledge to get parliament working ASAP
Matteo Salvini (L) and Luigi Di Maio. Photo: Filippo Monteforte, Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

After a telephone call on Wednesday between Luigi Di Maio, head of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), and the nationalist League party's Matteo Salvini, the two said they had agreed on a chair for the special committee of Italy's lower house, “in a spirit of cooperation to get parliament operational as soon as possible”. 

Their deal will see a member of the League, Nicola Molteni, elected to the head of the Chamber of Deputies' special committee, which is responsible for urgent government acts.

A Five Star senator, Vito Crimi, chairs the equivalent committee in the Senate, after a similar agreement between the M5S and League. 

A second round of consultations between Italy's main political parties and President Sergio Mattarella begins on Thursday morning, after the first talks failed to end the deadlock left by last month's inconclusive election.

READ ALSO: Who is Italian President Sergio Mattarella? The man guiding Italy through rocky government talks

Who is Italian President Sergio Mattarella? The man guiding Italy through rocky government talks
Sergio Mattarella pictured during government consultations in early April. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

Di Maio had indicated that he did not expect to speak to Salvini before then, having ruled out forming any coalition that includes the League's ally, the Forza Italia party led by Silvio Berlusconi.

Salvini said that he was the one to make the first move on Wednesday, writing on Facebook that he had called Di Maio “to speed up get the Chamber and Senate working”. 

But he added that his rightwing alliance, composed of the League, Forza Italia and the smaller conservative party Brothers of Italy, would head to their meeting with Mattarella “united”. 

READ ALSO: What to expect from Italy's government talks

The M5S has shown no sign of dropping its opposition to Forza Italia, with a senior member of the movement describing Berlusconi today as “the absolute evil of our country”. 

The four-time prime minister is an obstacle to progress and social justice, said Alessandro Di Battista, one of the most prominent Five Star MPs.

The M5S has made overtures to the Democratic Party, the centre-left group thrown out of power by the March 4th vote, as an alternative coalition partner. While the party's leaders insist they will remain in opposition, some of its members have indicated they might be open to governing with the M5S. 

Salvini, meanwhile, said on Wednesday that he was willing to talk to anyone, but advised Di Maio to “come down off the pedestal and stop saying 'me, me, me'”. 

READ ALSO:

POLITICS

Italy’s press freedom ranking drops amid fears of government ‘censorship’

Italy's ranking for press freedom worsened in 2024, with concerns about the silencing effect of defamation lawsuits and accusations of political influence over the country's media.

Published: 3 May 2024 09:43 CEST
Italy’s press freedom ranking drops amid fears of government 'censorship'

The annual World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday ranked Italy 46th, which was five places lower than in 2023 and behind all other western European countries and most EU member states.

Italy ranked alongside Poland (47th), while Hungary, Malta, Albania and Greece were the only other countries in Europe to score lower.

France, Spain, Germany and most other major European countries improved their ranking in 2024, with Norway, Denmark and Sweden topping the table for press freedom again this year.

Globally however press freedom has worsened due to political attacks in the past year, according to RSF, including the detention of journalists, suppression of independent media outlets and widespread dissemination of misinformation.

READ ALSO: How much control does Giorgia Meloni’s government have over Italian media?

The index ranks 180 countries on the ability of journalists to work and report freely and independently.

Italy fell in the ranking amid concerns about lawsuits filed against journalists by politicians and following recent allegations of a creeping government influence on the country’s media.

“For the most part, Italian journalists enjoy a climate of freedom,” RSF said.

“But they sometimes give in to the temptation to censor themselves, either to conform to their news organisation’s editorial line, or to avoid a defamation suit or other form of legal action, or out of fear of reprisals by extremist groups or organised crime.”

Italian journalists have in recent months alleged censorship at state broadcaster Rai, which critics say is increasingly influenced by Giorgia Meloni’s government, while a member of her coalition government is trying to acquire news agency AGI.

Italian journalists also “denounce attempts by politicians to obstruct their freedom to cover judicial cases by means of a “gag law” – legge bavaglio – on top of the SLAPP procedures that are common practice in Italy,” RSF said.

READ ALSO: ‘Warning’ to Italy’s journalists as court fines reporter for defaming Meloni

It noted the fact that ‘defamation’ remains a crime in Italy, and that this is often used in lawsuits filed against individual journalists by powerful public figures – such as in the high-profile 2023 case of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suing anti-mafia journalist Roberto Saviano.

Defamation through the media can be punished in Italy with prison sentences of between six months to three years.

Mafia threats also remain a major issue in Italy, RSF noted, where some 20 journalists are under round-the-clock police protection after being the targets of intimidation and attacks.

“Journalists who investigate organised crime and corruption are systematically threatened and sometimes subjected to physical violence for their investigative work,” RSF said.

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