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| New Government Takes Shape in Italy, Sidelining Salvini and the Hard Right | New Government Takes Shape in Italy, Sidelining Salvini and the Hard Right |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| ROME — Italy’s warring political parties struck a deal on Wednesday night to form a new government that sidelines Matteo Salvini, the hard-right leader who dominated the country’s politics for more than a year and threatened to drastically reorient Italy’s place in Europe. | ROME — Italy’s warring political parties struck a deal on Wednesday night to form a new government that sidelines Matteo Salvini, the hard-right leader who dominated the country’s politics for more than a year and threatened to drastically reorient Italy’s place in Europe. |
| The sudden turnabout in Italy’s politics was a relief to the European establishment after 14 months of euroskeptic provocations, anti-migrant crackdowns and flouting of the bloc’s financial rules. | The sudden turnabout in Italy’s politics was a relief to the European establishment after 14 months of euroskeptic provocations, anti-migrant crackdowns and flouting of the bloc’s financial rules. |
| The leaders of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the center-left Democratic Party, which returns from the opposition, both said on Wednesday that they had struck a deal and agreed that the outgoing prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, should be prime minister again. | The leaders of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the center-left Democratic Party, which returns from the opposition, both said on Wednesday that they had struck a deal and agreed that the outgoing prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, should be prime minister again. |
| Mr. Conte will meet with President Sergio Mattarella, who is tasked with guiding the country through a political crisis, early Thursday morning, when he is expected to be formally asked to form a government. | |
| But the new coalition, another marriage of convenience between sworn political enemies, may prove no more stable, or less conflict-ridden, than the one it replaces. | But the new coalition, another marriage of convenience between sworn political enemies, may prove no more stable, or less conflict-ridden, than the one it replaces. |
| It still includes a strong dose of the populism that stoked concerns that Italy, burdened by enormous debt and zero growth, is a precarious political climate for foreign investors and an inhospitable place for its ambitious and talented youth. | It still includes a strong dose of the populism that stoked concerns that Italy, burdened by enormous debt and zero growth, is a precarious political climate for foreign investors and an inhospitable place for its ambitious and talented youth. |
| The unlikely union of the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party, vicious foes until just days ago, owed little to shared vision and much to the age-old motivators of Italian politics: revenge, opportunity and shared interests. | The unlikely union of the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party, vicious foes until just days ago, owed little to shared vision and much to the age-old motivators of Italian politics: revenge, opportunity and shared interests. |
| Most of all, it was born from a remarkable overreach by Italy’s powerful interior minister and by far the most popular politician in the country, Mr. Salvini. | Most of all, it was born from a remarkable overreach by Italy’s powerful interior minister and by far the most popular politician in the country, Mr. Salvini. |
| The leader of the hard-right, anti-migrant League party, Mr. Salvini had sought to consolidate his surging public support by pulling the plug on his coalition with Five Star. He called for early elections and asked Italians to give him full power. | The leader of the hard-right, anti-migrant League party, Mr. Salvini had sought to consolidate his surging public support by pulling the plug on his coalition with Five Star. He called for early elections and asked Italians to give him full power. |
| But elections posed an enormous threat to Five Star, whose support among voters has been cut in half during its 14 months in government with the League. | But elections posed an enormous threat to Five Star, whose support among voters has been cut in half during its 14 months in government with the League. |
| With their power and well-paid government jobs at risk — and their feelings hurt by Mr. Salvini’s betrayal — Five Star leaders instead opened talks with the Democratic Party, which only days earlier they had suggested was the party of Mafiosi, corrupt elites and kidnappers. | With their power and well-paid government jobs at risk — and their feelings hurt by Mr. Salvini’s betrayal — Five Star leaders instead opened talks with the Democratic Party, which only days earlier they had suggested was the party of Mafiosi, corrupt elites and kidnappers. |
| “Today we told the president that there is a political agreement with the Democratic Party,” Luigi Di Maio the political leader of the Five Star Movement said on Wednesday evening. | “Today we told the president that there is a political agreement with the Democratic Party,” Luigi Di Maio the political leader of the Five Star Movement said on Wednesday evening. |
| He added that Mr. Salvini had unilaterally “pulled the plug” on their alliance and then, in a last-ditch effort to return to power, had offered Mr. Di Maio the position of prime minister in a new government. | He added that Mr. Salvini had unilaterally “pulled the plug” on their alliance and then, in a last-ditch effort to return to power, had offered Mr. Di Maio the position of prime minister in a new government. |
| Mr. Di Maio said he turned his former coalition partner down. “I thank the League for the offer, with gratitude and sincerity,” he said. | Mr. Di Maio said he turned his former coalition partner down. “I thank the League for the offer, with gratitude and sincerity,” he said. |