by InTrieste
Leader of Italy’s Azione party, Carlo Calenda, quit a center-left alliance with the Partito Democratico (PD) on Sunday, 7 August, just days after the parties joined forces ahead of general elections in September.
Calenda announced the highly criticized “painful decision” live on Italian television on Sunday 7 August, which could hand the right-wing bloc a landslide victory in next month’s elections.
The ‘centrodestra‘ coalition comprises the far-right Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) party of Giorgia Meloni, the right-wing Lega led by Matteo Salvini, and the centre-right Forza Italia party of Silvio Berlusconi.
“On the left chaos and everyone against everyone!” tweeted a jubilant Salvini on Sunday, while Meloni mocked a “new twist in the soap opera of the center-left.”
The snap election was called following the resignation of Draghi, who has stayed on in a caretaker role, after three coalition parties withdrew their support from his administration.
The Lega and Forza Italia were among the parties that voted not to back Draghi. The third was the populist MoVimento 5 Stelle (M5S), led by former premier Giuseppe Conte, whose party triggered the government collapse after snubbing an earlier vote of confidence.
Italy will hold a snap national election on 25 September.
