Italian government reforms after coalition breakup

After a split between the two parties in Italy’s governing coalition earlier in the month, a deal has been struck for a new coalition that will oust the far-right League party from government.

The previous coalition agreement between the League and the Five Star Movement (FSM) collapsed over disagreements regarding a railway project. The populist FSM held to its environmental concerns, while the League supported the project as a means to create jobs.

The League, led by Matteo Salvini, tabled a no-confidence motion to dissolve the government, expecting a new round of elections that might have given them enough of a majority to govern on their own.

Instead, however, the FSM now seeks a new coalition with the center-left Democratic Party (PD), which would force the League into the opposition. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who was leaving office with the fall of the old coalition, will return under the new one.

The FSM and PD have been bitter rivals in the recent past, making the decision to combine forces both a shock to voters and a pleasant surprise for the EU, who feared Salvini’s League and its plan to alter the Italian constitution in pursuit of an ‘Italexit’.