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SalviniRivals Explore Options to Avoid Snap Italian Election

Jamie Dettmer

   Italy's center-left Democratic Party and the country's quirky
   anti-establishment Five Star Movement are exploring whether they can
   form a new government to spare Italians an election this year.
   The one thing the two parties have in common is fear of MatteoSalvini,
   leader of the populist Lega Party, who hopes to sweep into power at the
   head of a far-right alliance in the event of a snap election he's
   engineering to happen.
   Brussels is becoming increasingly unsettled at the prospect of
   aSalvinigovernment emerging from Italy's political chaos, which was
   triggered this week when the unstable two-party coalition government
   formed just a year ago between the Lega and the Five Star Movement
   (M5S) formally collapsed amid acrimony and recriminations.
   Salviniyanked his party out of the coalition government earlier this
   month, hoping he could ride his rising popularity to capture the
   primeministershipand seize what he termed "full powers."

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