Italy: President offers politicians more time to avert snap elections

A snap election hangs in the balance as President Sergio Mattarella has agreed to meet party leaders again next week. Squabbling has beset Europe's third-largest economy and plunged the government into a crisis.Italian President Sergio Mattarella agreed to meet political leaders again on Tuesday as the possibility of an early election hung in the balance.

"The crisis must be resolved with clear decisions and in a short time," Mattarella said after talks with party heads on Thursday. The president said he will hold a new round of consultations next week, after which he will "draw up conclusions and take the necessary decisions." If a coalition is not formed, Mattarella could consider installing a technical government or call an early election. Read more: Italy's left protest movement buoyed by Salvini setback This gives the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Democratic Party (PD) some breathing space to continue negotiations on the possibility of forming a new coalition government. A week is a long time in politics Thursday's discussions were provoked after Matteo Salvini, the interior minister and leader of the far-right League party, ended a 14-month coalition with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte then resigned from his post, blaming Salvini for trying to trigger early elections. M5S leader Luigi Di Maio had earlier in the day met with Mattarella and said: "Our loyal cooperation has been undermined by the unilateral opening of the crisis and by the presentation of a no-confidence motion." Di Maio also spoke of the possibility of a snap election: "An early vote doesn't scare us, but elections cannot be a way to escape from the promise we made to Italian citizens. We still have many things to do." Salvini extolled the virtues of a national vote following his meeting with the Italian president. The League leader told reporters that an early election is the best way out of the political crisis. "No one should fear the judgment of the people," Salvini said. His confidence would appear to be justified as his right-wing nationalist party is riding high in the opinion polls. jsi/sms (AFP, dpa, Reuters, AP) Every evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.