Nichi Vendola, the leader of
the small Left, Ecology and Freedom (SEL) party, said Friday
that an alliance was needed to prevent the next president being
elected on the basis of a deal between Premier Matteo Renzi and
Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi.
"An anti-Nazareno front is needed," Vendola, the governor
of the southern Puglia region, said referring to the so-called
Nazareno pact Renzi and three-time premier Berlusconi struck
last year.
The pact regards a new election law and an overhaul of
Italy's slow, costly political apparatus.
But many politicians hostile to it, including members of
Renzi's own centre-left Democratic Party (PD), believe a similar
deal is in the pipeline over the next head of State.
When asked if that anti-Nazareno front should include the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), Vendola said it should
feature: "all those who want to play out this match".
He added: "there is a need for a new, great, innovative,
plural left of the people that knows how to uncover the
deception of Renzi-ism and of Matteo Renzi".
Lawmakers from both houses of parliament and regional
representatives are set to start voting next Thursday on a
replacement for 89-year-old Giorgio Napolitano, who quit as
president last week.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
