Rome, April 23: Italy's president Sergio Mattarella on Monday asked the lower house of parliament's Speaker Roberto Fico to hold talks with the populist Five-Star Movement and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) in a fresh bid to form a government after the inconclusive March 4 national election.
Mattarella "has given the task of verifying the scope for a possible parliamentary majority between the Five-Star Movement and the PD with a view to forming a government," presidential palace spokesman Ugo Zampetti told journalists.
Fico has "until Thursday" to report back to Mattarella on his efforts, he added.
Five-Star emerged as the largest parliamentary party in last month's election in which the far-right League party also made strong gains.
The centre-left coalition led by outgoing leader Matteo Renzi came third in the ballot - well behind the centre-right alliance and Five-Star - and the PD won 18.72 percent of votes in its worst-ever electoral result.
Three previous rounds of consultations this month with Italy's main parties failed amid a mesh of seemingly irreconcilable political demands.
The League, the dominant party in the centre-right bloc - which has the most seats in parliament - and Five-Star have both claimed first bid to form a government. But the PD - which had vowed to into opposition after its hammering at the polls - has the numbers in parliament to play kingmaker.
No party or bloc has a clear majority in the hung parliament that resulted from the election.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses defence minister in surprise announcement
Jerusalem, Nov 5: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region.
Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival. Netanyahu cited “significant gaps” and a “crisis of trust” between the men in his Tuesday evening announcement.
“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defence minister,” Netanyahu said. “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defence minister.”
In the early days of the war, Israel's leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack. But as the war dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged. While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant had taken a more pragmatic approach, saying that military force has created the necessary conditions for a diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the Hamas group.
Gallant, a former general who has gained public respect with a gruff, no-nonsense personality, said in a statement: “The security of the state of Israel always was, and will always remain, my life's mission."
Gallant has worn a simple, black buttoned shirt throughout the war in a sign of sorrow over the October 7 attack and developed a strong relationship with his US counterpart, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
A previous attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Netanyahu. He also flirted with the idea of dismissing Gallant over the summer but held off until Tuesday's announcement.
Gallant will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister who was a junior officer in the military. Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu rival who recently rejoined the government, will take the foreign affairs post.
Netanyahu has a long history of neutralising his rivals. In his statement, he claimed he had made “many attempts” to bridge the gaps with Gallant.
“But they kept getting wider. They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy - our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it,” he said.
