Premier Mario Draghi returned to Rome
from the NATO summit in Madrid early on Wednesday amid soaring
tension with his predecessor Giuseppe Conte, the leader of the
5-Star Movement (M5S), a key part of the ruling coalition.
Conte reacted with fury at reports that Draghi had contacted M5S
founder Beppe Grillo to have him removed from the helm of the
movement.
Conte had talks on Wednesday with President Sergio Mattarella
about the issue.
Friction with the ruling coalition was already high after
Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio recently quit the M5S to form his
own group after a big row with Conte over military aid for
Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
Di Maio said Conte's calls for the government to stop sending
weapons to Kyiv risking putting Italy out of synch with respect
to its EU and NATO allies.
The premier's office denied that Draghi had sought to have Conte
ousted and said the reason for his early return from Madrid was
in order to prepare for a cabinet meeting on Thursday with
measures to curtail sharp rises in energy bills.
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