Premier Giuseppe Conte has been
meeting ministers one at a time in view of Friday's
estates-general on the COVID economic recovery plan involving
employers, unions and the opposition, sources said.
The ministerial meetings were 'bilaterals', sources said,
amid reports of tension within the government about how to move
forward.
The estates general summit at Rome's Villa Pamphili is aimed
at forging a coherent and well-funded plan for Italy's economic
recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said Tuesday that the
government is in good health.
Di Maio, a bigwig and former leader of the ruling
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), was speaking after the
leader of the M5S's main government partner, Nicola Zingaretti
of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), called for a "turning
point" from the executive led by Premier Giuseppe Conte.
Di Maio told a Corriere della Sera forum on Made in Italy
that "debate is legitimate, as long as it stays within positions
taken by political forces but always reaches a common result.
"In no country in the world is there talk of pulling down the
government and making another one," he said after nationalist
opposition League party leader Matteo Salvini urged the M5S and
the PD to pull the plug on the administration, as he had done on
the last M5S-League one in August, and call early elections in
October.
"The government is enjoying good health and is facing this
economic and health crisis in the best possible way," Di Maio
said. "That does not mean perfectly, but in the best way
possible".
Zingaretti said "I think that the results obtained by the
government are an element of strength but we must not be lazy.
"Now we must tackle jobs, security and the reopening of
schools. We mustn't rest on our laurels. We must be rigorous. My
appeal is to be concrete, useful and far-sighted. Which is not
to end an experience but on the other hand go forward in the
country's interests." The PD leader said the government must now
"attack" crucial issues while listening to the opposition.
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