Italian parties agree agenda to form new government; 5-Star votes on
deal
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[September 03, 2019]
By Crispian Balmer
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's anti-establishment
5-Star Movement and center-left Democratic Party (PD) unveiled a shared
policy program on Tuesday for their mooted coalition, putting an
expansionary 2020 budget at the top of their agenda.
5-Star, created a decade ago out of opposition to the PD, has agreed to
form a new administration with its former foes to head off a snap
election after its previous coalition with the far-right League
collapsed last month.
Supporters of 5-Star are holding an online ballot on whether to support
the proposed coalition and results are due by 1730 GMT. Shortly after
the voting started, the parties published a 26-point program that would
underpin the planned government.
"This is a very delicate moment for the country. It must be tackled by
focusing on the interests and needs of citizens, of the community that
we all form together," 5-Star said in a blog on Tuesday, calling on its
supporters to back the deal.
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Italian benchmark 10-year bond yields hit record lows on Tuesday in a
sign that investors believed the new administration would take office,
heading off the risk of an early election and prolonged political
instability.
At the head of the 5-Star/PD policy list was a commitment to use the
coming budget to help the stalled economy grow, but also a promise that
they would not endanger public finances.
Italy has the second-largest debt burden in the European Union as a
proportion of economic output, and the pact called for greater
flexibility from Brussels to overcome the "excessive rigidity" of
existing budget rules.
Emphasizing social justice, the two parties pledged to introduce a
minimum salary, avoid a VAT hike set for January and boost spending on
education, research and welfare. The program also called for a web tax
on multinationals and the creation of a public bank to help boost
development in the poorer south.
MINISTER PUZZLE
5-Star and PD committed to re-writing Italy's conflict of interest laws,
a move that former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has always sought to
head off, fearing it could impact negatively on his Mediaset <MS.MI>
media empire.
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![](../images/090319pics/news_p31.jpg)
5-Star Movement leader Luigi di Maio speaks to the media after
consultations with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Rome,
Italy, August 28, 2019. REUTERS/Ciro de Luca/File Photo
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The two parties also promised a "revision" of Italy's motorway
concessions. The vague wording left open the hope for Italy's
Atlantia <ATL.MI> that 5-Star would not press ahead with its demand
that it lose its lucrative toll road concession in the wake of last
year's deadly bridge collapse in Genoa.
The new administration is set to be led by outgoing Prime Minister
Giuseppe Conte, who came to power last year at the helm of the
previous coalition of 5-Star and the League but is a member of no
party. He is due to hold a further round of meetings with 5-Star and
the PD later on Tuesday.
Having agreed on the outlines of a coalition pact, the two sides
still have to decide on ministers, with uncertainty surrounding the
role of 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio.
He served as deputy prime minister, industry minister and labor
minister in the previous administration, but looks unlikely to keep
any of those portfolios in the new cabinet.
In a Facebook post on Monday he did not say whether 5-Star
supporters should back the deal and there is no certainty the online
vote will pass.
An SWG opinion poll on Monday said 51% of 5-Star supporters backed
the tie-up with the PD, while some 69% of PD voters endorsed the
idea.
The 5-Star ballot closes at 6.00 p.m. (1600 GMT) and results are
expected shortly afterwards. A record high 30,000 votes were cast in
the first two hours of balloting, the group said. In all, 115,372
registered supporters are eligible to take part.
"In the early stages of voting, the high influx of users on the
system caused minor slowdowns ... however the smooth running of the
votes was guaranteed," the 5-Star's web-based Rousseau platform said
on Facebook.
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(Additional reporting by Angelo Amante and Giuseppe Fonte; Editing
by John Stonestreet and Peter Graff)
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