Interior Minister Matteo Salvini gives a press conference after meeting social partners at the Ministry of the Interior to present the next Government Budget Law on August 6, 2019 in Rome, Italy.

The leader of Italy's ruling League party, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, said on Thursday the governing coalition had broken down and the only way forward was to hold new elections.

The shock announcement follows months of bickering between the right-wing League and its coalition partner, the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, and it throws the euro zone's third-largest economy into an uncertain political future.

Salvini said in a statement that he had told Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte that the alliance with 5-Star had collapsed after little more than a year in power and "we should quickly give the choice back to the voters".

Parliament, which is now in its summer recess, could reconvene next week to carry out the necessary steps, Salvini said, referring to the need for a no-confidence vote in the government and the resignation of the premier.

Tensions came to a head on Wednesday when the two parties voted against each other in parliament over the future of a project for a high-speed train link with France.

5-Star has more parliamentary seats than the League, but Salvini's party now has twice as much voter support, according to opinion polls, and it has often threatened to try to capitalise on that popularity with new elections.

However, it remains to be seen if things will go as Salvini plans. Pushing the nation back into election mode in August, when Italians are on holiday and parliament is closed for the summer recess, would be unusual and potentially risky.

President Sergio Mattarella is the only person with the power to dissolve parliament, and may be unwilling to do so ahead of preparatory work in September for the 2020 budget, which must then be presented to parliament the following month.

Italy has not held an election in the autumn in all the post-war period. </s> The Latest Italy’s Salvini calls for a new election soon

MILAN — The Latest on Italian politics (all times local):

Italy is facing a government crisis with Interior Minister Matteo Salvini of the right-wing League party calling for a new election and urging Italy’s president to verify in parliament that the governing majority has collapsed.

Tensions spiraled after a Senate vote on Wednesday defeated a motion by the League’s coalition partners, the 5-Star Movement, that sought to kill an EU-funded high-speed rail project known in Italy as TAV that is supported by the League.

Salvini met Thursday with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. After the meeting, Salvini issued a statement saying the TAV vote made clear that the populist coalition had collapsed. He called for a speedy election.

To have a new election, President Sergio Mattarella must first verify that the government has lost support in Parliament. It was unclear when that might happen, since parliament has adjourned for the summer holiday.

Tensions are rising in Italy’s government, with Interior Minister Matteo Salvini’s League saying that new elections are the only alternative to the current governing coalition with the 5-Star Movement.

The League on Thursday complained of deadlock on a variety of issues, including a vote in parliament over the future of an EU-funded high-speed rail link between Turin and the French city of Lyon. The statement said “it is useless to go on,” adding that “the only alternative to this government is to give the word back to Italians with new elections.”

The 5-Star Movement, which opposes the high-speed train link as too costly and unnecessary, replied that the League’s note was “not comprehensible,” and asked the party to clearly state what it wants. </s> ROME — Matteo Salvini effectively pulled the plug on Italy's coalition government on Thursday evening, prompting the prime minister to trigger a process that could lead to a snap election.

In a statement to the press, Salvini, the interior minister and one of two deputy prime ministers, said: "Let's immediately head back to parliament to ascertain this government no longer has a majority as appears to be clear from yesterday's [Senate vote]."

Salvini was referring to a parliamentary vote on Wednesday when his far-right League voted with the main opposition parties to reject a motion by its coalition partner the 5Star Movement to block a high-speed link between Turin and Lyon.

Salvini’s move prompted Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to officially trigger a process that could lead to snap elections as early as October.

In a late night address to the press, Conte said he called the speakers of the two houses of parliament, asking them to summon lawmakers back from recess for a confidence vote.

Salvini issued a statement saying "there is no alternative to the current government, the only alternative is the polls."

“Salvini came to speak to me to let me know he is planning to head back to the polls to capitalize his current popularity in a snap election,” Conte said.

“I told Salvini his move would jeopardize important reforms my government had initiated.”

5Stars leader Luigi Di Maio, the other deputy prime minister, sided with Conte, saying “Salvini made the government collapse to capitalize on his popularity.”

Earlier on Thursday, Di Maio said in a Facebook post: "We are ready to head back to the polls, the League mocked Italians."

A government split won't be official until a formal act takes place such as a no-confidence motion, the withdrawal of ministers from the Cabinet or the prime minister's resignation.

ITALY NATIONAL PARLIAMENT ELECTION POLL OF POLLS

It will then be up to President Sergio Mattarella to decide whether an election takes place immediately or if a caretaker government is installed to pass the 2020 budget in the fall.

A government collapse would cause major uncertainty for the European Union; Italy is the third-largest economy in the eurozone and is the EU's fourth most populous member. Italy has also not yet nominated its candidate for the next European Commission.

Earlier Thursday, Conte met Mattarella — who headed back to Rome from his summer residence for the talks — to discuss the situation. Two government officials said the prime minister did not offer his resignation or suggest a government reshuffle at the meeting. But soon after that meeting, Salvini issued a statement saying "there is no alternative to the current government, the only alternative is the polls."

At a rally in Pescara later on Thursday night, Salvini mentioned the likely government crisis only at the end of his hourlong speech, in which he broke down into tears at the end.

“If one believes in his own ideas, he has no fear … and I am not afraid of going at it alone,” he said, hinting at a general election.

He also reiterated his previous statement that League lawmakers are ready to head to parliament as early as next Monday.

“People are telling me parliament is in recess so I should wait until October … why would you call lawmakers back to Rome [in the middle of August], they say. But every day we wait is a day we lose … why would we wait? Our economy won’t wait for us,” he said.

Salvini concluded by saying “I’m looking forward to seeing lawmakers in parliament next week." </s> The Latest: Italy's Salvini calls for a new election soon

MILAN (AP) — The Latest on Italian politics (all times local):

Italy is facing a government crisis with Interior Minister Matteo Salvini of the right-wing League party calling for a new election and urging Italy's president to verify in parliament that the governing majority has collapsed.

Tensions spiraled after a Senate vote on Wednesday defeated a motion by the League's coalition partners, the 5-Star Movement, that sought to kill an EU-funded high-speed rail project known in Italy as TAV that is supported by the League.

Salvini met Thursday with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. After the meeting, Salvini issued a statement saying the TAV vote made clear that the populist coalition had collapsed. He called for a speedy election.

To have a new election, President Sergio Mattarella must first verify that the government has lost support in Parliament. It was unclear when that might happen, since parliament has adjourned for the summer holiday.

Tensions are rising in Italy's government, with Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's League saying that new elections are the only alternative to the current governing coalition with the 5-Star Movement.

The League on Thursday complained of deadlock on a variety of issues, including a vote in parliament over the future of an EU-funded high-speed rail link between Turin and the French city of Lyon. The statement said "it is useless to go on," adding that "the only alternative to this government is to give the word back to Italians with new elections."

The 5-Star Movement, which opposes the high-speed train link as too costly and unnecessary, replied that the League's note was "not comprehensible," and asked the party to clearly state what it wants. </s> Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Tuesday that he would submit his resignation amid tensions between the two populist parties that comprise his government coalition: the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the far-right League.

The big picture: Earlier this month, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini declared the governing coalition unworkable and demanded fresh elections. Salvini's League party performed exceptionally well in the European Parliament elections earlier this year and is polling in first place nationally at about 38%, according to The Guardian. Salvini hopes to use a snap election to give the League an outright majority and make him prime minister, though his far-right party is still facing questions over a campaign finance scandal involving Russian funds. </s> ROME (Reuters) - Italy’s prime minister resigned on Tuesday after launching a blistering attack on his own interior minister, Matteo Salvini, accusing him of sinking the ruling coalition and endangering the economy for personal and political gain.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, addressing parliament after it was recalled from its summer recess to decide the future of the 14-month-old government, accused the far-right League party chief Salvini of seeking to cash in on his rising popularity.

In a shock move on Aug. 8, Salvini declared that his alliance with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement was dead and called for elections, but the gambit could yet prove a big political blunder and open the door to power for his rivals.

Politicians from 5-Star and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) are openly discussing forming a new coalition which would push the League into opposition and give Italy a more centrist, pro-European government.

“The interior minister has shown that he is following his own interests and those of his party,” Conte told a packed Senate, a stony-faced Salvini sitting by his side. “His decisions pose serious risks for this country.”

He described Salvini’s actions as reckless and “liable to tip the country into a spiral of political uncertainty and financial instability”.

After the Senate debate Conte, who belongs to neither of the coalition parties, handed his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella, who said he would begin talks with parliamentary groups on Wednesday to see if a new coalition can be formed.

Failing that, Mattarella would have to dissolve parliament, 3-1/2 years ahead of schedule, to allow for autumn elections.

The consultations with party delegations will begin with minor groups at 1400 GMT on Wednesday. Mattarella will hear all the main parties on Thursday, concluding with 5-Star at 1500 GMT.

The PD’s leadership is also scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss the prospect of hooking up with 5-Star. The two parties have been bitter political foes for years.

Financial markets rallied on Conte’s resignation, seemingly hopeful that snap polls could be avoided.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, next to Italian Deputy PM Matteo Salvini, addresses the upper house of parliament over the ongoing government crisis, in Rome, Italy August 20, 2019. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

CHALLENGING EUROPE

Salvini at times shook his head, rolled his eyes or nodded to League senators as the prime minister accused him of being “irresponsible”, “reckless”, “alarming” and “disrespectful”.

Conte said he was worried by Salvini’s threat to call people into the country’s squares if his drive for elections were thwarted, as well as his demand for “full powers”.

“We do not need men who have ‘full powers’, but people who have institutional culture and a sense of responsibility,” he said in an hour-long speech in which he also denounced Salvini’s habit of brandishing the cross at his political rallies.

Touching on a particularly sensitive subject, he also said Salvini should provide explanations over allegations that the League attempted to obtain illegal funding from Russia through a covert oil transaction.

Salvini rejected Conte’s comments, saying other parties were afraid of going to elections and losing their influence.

He said his political goal was to challenge the European Union’s fiscal rules, which he has blamed for impoverishing the country. Rome should spend at least 50 billion euros ($55 billion) to stimulate the chronically weak economy, he added.

“I am not afraid,” he said. “I don’t want Italy to be a slave to anyone, and I don’t want Italy to be given a long chain like a little dog. I don’t want any chain at all.”

Italy has not held an election in the autumn since World War Two because the final months of the year are traditionally dedicated to drawing up the budget — a key moment for a country with one of the world’s largest debt mountains.

At the end of the parliamentary debate the League withdrew the no-confidence vote in the government that it had tabled earlier this month, but Conte said the move had come too late.

“I see that the League’s leader Matteo Salvini lacks the courage to take responsibility for his actions. If there’s a lack of courage, don’t worry, I’ll take responsibility before the country that is watching us,” said Conte.

Slideshow (14 Images)

Mattarella is likely to push for a swift decision by the 5-Star and PD on whether they can work together. Failing that, he will probably dissolve parliament and call a vote in late October or early November.

“They won’t be able to run away from elections for ever,” Salvini told reporters as Conte met the president. </s> Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini is looking to snatch the country's top political spot after the crumbling of the populist coalition between his League party and anti-establishment 5-star party.

Salvini hopes the no-confidence motion filed against the government today will trigger a snap election and install him as the nation's new leader.

According to opinion polls, a snap election would go in Salvini's favour, allowing him absolute control of the government opposed to the current reliance on an independent Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte.

Though 5-Star has more parliamentary seats than the League, Salvini's party now has twice as much voter support.

It has recently threatened to try to capitalise on that surge in popularity with new elections.

However, it remains to be seen if things will go as Salvini plans. Pushing the nation back into election mode in August is unusual and could be unpopular and risky.

Italian parliament is currently in summer recess but today Salvini urged lawmakers to come back to Rome to debate the motion: 'There's nothing to say that we cannot make parliamentarians work in the middle of August.

'Lawmakers should get off their bums and work.'

In a League statement, they urged other parties to 'head to the polls quickly' to avoid 'hurting Italy.'

The heads of political groups in Italy's Senate will meet on Monday to set a timetable for the no-confidence vote, the upper house press office said in a statement on Friday.

Salvini's shock announcement on Thursday, which followed a period of intense public feuding between the two parties, throws the euro zone's third-largest economy into deeper political uncertainty just as it was due to start 2020 budget preparations.

An election could be held as early as October.

Investors reacted by selling off Italian government bonds and stocks on Friday. Yields on 10-year bonds touched a five-week high, their biggest daily rise since May 2018. The Italian blue-chip index fell 2.3%, with banks leading the decline and helping push other European stock markets lower.

Salvini said in a statement on Thursday he had told Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who belongs to neither coalition party, that the alliance with 5-Star had collapsed after barely a year in power and 'we should quickly give the choice back to the voters.' He said cabinet meetings were dogged by disputes.

The head of state, President Sergio Mattarella, is the only person with the power to dissolve parliament, but he could first try to form a new government from the existing legislature before resorting to elections.

The political crisis has jolted Italians out of their August torpor, a time when millions of people are holidaying on the beach, and raised the prospect of the first autumn election in Italy's post-war history.

'It's a mess basically,' said Marta Bonora, a 21-year-old languages student in Milan, saying Salvini's crackdown on immigration meant other problems were being ignored.

Anna Scoccia, 63, who works at a newsstand in Rome, was also cynical: 'This is all a big joke, it's another of Salvini's stunts to keep his popularity up. I don't believe we will go to elections but I am still terrified by what comes next.'

Prime Minister Conte turned on Salvini late on Thursday, demanding in a televised statement that Salvini explain to Italians why he wanted to bring down the government.

Until a few weeks ago Salvini had repeatedly said that the government would last a full five-year term, but he brushed off Conte's criticisms and said 5-Star was holding up the policies the country needed to boost its stagnant economy.

Tensions came to a head on Wednesday when 5-Star and the League voted against each other in parliament over the future of a project for a high-speed train link with France.

Mattarella may be unwilling to dissolve parliament ahead of preparatory work in September for the 2020 budget, which must then be presented to parliament the following month.

Italy, which has Europe's second-largest sovereign debt burden after Greece, has already angered the European Union with an expansionary 2019 budget and Salvini wants to make major tax cuts.

Fitch Ratings is due to review later on Friday its 'BBB' rating on Italy's sovereign debt, which is two notches above junk status and carries a negative outlook. </s> ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Thursday that the leader of the ruling League party, Matteo Salvini, must explain to Italians why he wants to bring down the coalition government.

Salvini, who is deputy prime minister and interior minister, said earlier that the coalition with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement had broken down and he called for new elections.

“It is not up to the interior minister to convene parliament or fix the agenda of a political crisis,” Conte said, vowing to go before parliament to ensure “the crisis (Salvini) has unleashed is the most transparent in the history of the republic”.

In his brief statement from the prime minister’s office, Conte, who is close to 5-Star, said he would no longer accept Salvini’s attacks on his ministers and accused him of relying on “slogans” to drum up support.

“He must ... justify to the voters who believed in the promise of change, the reasons that have led him to interrupt early and abruptly the work of government,” Conte said. </s> Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Tuesday that he will submit his resignation to the president, ending Italy's 14-month-old populist government.

"At the end of the debate I will go to the President of the Republic to officially communicate the end of this government and present to my resignation to him," Conte said in a speech before the Senate.

Two weeks ago, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini made the surprise announcement that his far-right League no longer wanted to remain in an alliance with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, presenting a no-confidence vote and advocating for fresh elections.

What happens now?
• Conte will formally submit his resignation to Italian President Sergio Mattarella later on Tuesday.
• As head of state, Mattarella could reject the resignation, asking Conte to remain in his post to try and find an alternative majority in Parliament.
• He could also accept the resignation and see if another leader can form an alternative coaltion.
• Should those options fail, Parliament could be dissolved,setting the stage for snap elections as early as October.

During his speech before the Senate, Conte slammed Salvini, saying that he'd acted selfishly by choosing to end the country's governing coalition.

"It is irresponsible to initiate a government crisis," Conte said adding that the move "shows personal and party interests."

Conte, who belongs to neither party in the coalition, said that Salvini's decision puts the eurozone's third-largest economy at risk — exposing Italy to "a whirling spiral of political uncertainty and financial instability."

"Making citizens vote is the essence of democracy, asking them to vote every year is irresponsible," the prime minister said.

Salvini, who is also deputy prime minister, was seen shaking his head and rolling his eyes during Conte's speech, while members of his League booed at the Italian premier from their seats in the Senate.

Recent opinion polls have seen support for Salvini's anti-immigrant League party surge while support for the Five Star Movement has dropped significantly.

By trying to trigger early elections, analysts believe Salvini hopes to capitalize on his party's popularity and become Italy's next prime minister.

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Matteo Salvini, Italian Deputy Prime Minister, announces the collapse of the coalition government with the Five Stars Movement, opening the possibility of holding a snap election.