Salvini’s rival seems poised to help him avoid a trial

Bloomberg

Matteo Salvini is in hot water, and his coalition ally and sometime-rival may be about to let him off the hook.
The Five Star Movement, which governs Italy in a contentious coalition along with Salvini’s League party, is preparing to bow to pressure from the anti-immigration deputy premier and block a legal case sparked by his refusal to let a migrant ship dock last summer.
Five Star members of the Senate’s immunity committee will likely vote to block legal proceedings against Salvini to avoid wrecking the administration, according to three of the party’s parliamentary officials, who declined to be named discussing confidential deliberations.
The case, the latest in a string of disputes straining the populist government, will go before the Senate in Rome on Thursday morning, with the committee tasked with deciding whether Salvini’s parliamentary immunity should be lifted, allowing him to stand trial on a kidnapping charge from the migrant episode. He denies wrongdoing.
The standoff over Salvini’s legal fate underscores his domination over the coalition. Buoyed by high opinion poll rankings for the League, which has overtaken Five Star in voter popularity, Salvini has been calling the shots—with Five Star wary of risking early elections.
Both Salvini of the anti-migration League and fellow Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio of the anti-establishment Five Star insist the government won’t collapse over the issue.