Italy’s center-left coalition collapses days after agreement

Bloomberg

An Italian centrist party quit its alliance with the Democrats, days after agreeing to join forces in a bid to prevent a right-wing landslide in September elections triggered by the fall of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government.
The Azione party pulled out because “the pieces just didn’t fit together,” its leader, Carlo Calenda, said during an interview with national broadcaster Rai on Sunday.
“I’m not comfortable with this, there is no courage, beauty, seriousness and love in doing politics, so I communicated to the leaders of the Democratic Party that I do not intend to continue with this alliance,” Calenda said.
Still, another centrist party won’t leave the block. +Europe signaled it would remain in a now-diminished Democratic-led coalition for the September 25 vote, according to a statement on Sunday.
Italian 10-year borrowing costs fell slightly to 3.02%, erasing an opening advance. But their German counterparts were even lower, widening the spread between the pair by four basis points to 211 basis points and snapping a three-day run of declines.
Azione’s move came a day after the Democrats broke an alliance with Sinistra, a far-left party, and Verdi, Italy’s green party. Another grouping, led by the outgoing Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, a former Five Star leader, agreed to team up with the Democrats.
The Democrats’ bid to cement alliances with parties ranging in affiliation from center to far left has been viewed as an attempt to head off a victory by the right-wing bloc led by Brothers of Italy, headed by Giorgia Meloni.
Meloni, 45, said she will be the designated prime minister if her party gets the most votes in the coalition, according to an RTL radio interview on Monday.
Polls signal that with other political forces divided, the right-wing coalition may be headed for a decisive win, with a chance to win two-thirds majorities in both houses of parliament.
After 2020 constitutional reforms, about 37% of seats will be allocated to party candidates that win the most support in constituencies, while the rest will be allocated in proportion to the number of votes they receive nationally.