Democratic Party (PD) leader Enrico
Letta has said the centre-left group's rift with the 5-Star
Movement (M5S) is "irreversible" after the M5S triggered the
crisis that led to the collapse of outgoing Premier Mario
Draghi's government of national unity last week.
The PD had been expected to make a pact with the M5S to run
together at the next general election until the M5S snubbed a
recent confidence vote on a government decree.
That sparked a crisis which culminated with three parties, the
M5S, Matteo Salvini's right-wing League and Silvio Berlusconi's
Forza Italia (FI), last Wednesday failing to take part in
another vote of confidence, which led to Draghi's resignation
and the dissolution of parliament for snap elections on
September 25.
"The rift with the 5-Stars for this election is irreversible,"
Letta told Rai television.
"We said so before.
"I'd told Conte that if he took that sort of decision, this
would be the consequence.
"We are consistent with the decision".
In an interview in Sunday's edition of La Stampa, Conte called
the PD "arrogant" and said the real progressive force of Italian
politics was the M5S, not the centre-left party.
A coalition of right and centre-right parties is tipped to win
the upcoming election and the fact the M5S and PD are not set to
run together has boosted its chances.
The right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party led by Giorgia
Meloni, the only major group not to back Draghi's government, is
currently top of the opinion polls, with the support of around
23% of the electorate.
The League is polling at around 13-14% and centre-right FI
around 8%.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
