Lega Party Calls on Italian President to Elect New Parliament

ROME (Sputnik) – Leader of Italian party Lega Matteo Salvini has demanded President Sergio Mattarella call new parliamentary elections after the latter's refusal to support the list of potential government members proposed by the prime ministerial candidate Giuseppe Conte, supported by Lega as well as the Five Star Movement (M5S).

“Now I am telling Mattarella that we want a date for new elections. It will not be a political election, but a referendum on preserving democracy … Tomorrow we want to know the date of the election,” Salvini said on Sunday during a live stream on his Facebook page.

The Lega leader added that Italy had become a "French or German colony."

Mattarella rejected Conte’s list of potential ministers due to the candidacy of Paolo Savona, who was proposed as a candidate for minister of economy. Mattarella opposes Savona’s views on the EU's monetary policy.

Following Sunday’s decision by Mattarella, M5S leader Luigi Di Maio called on the country’s parliament to discuss possible impeachment of the Italian president. Di Maio also called for holding new parliamentary elections after the impeachment of Mattarella.

The incumbent president has been supported by head of the center-right Forza Italia party, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, as well as the Democratic Party.

Italian parliamentary elections were held on March 4. The election resulted in the M5S securing more than 32 percent of the vote. The center-right coalition, consisting of the Lega party, the center-right Forza Italia and the Brothers of Italy movement, received 37 percent of the vote. The Democratic Party won some 20 percent of the vote. None of the parties obtained the majority of votes required to form a government.