Salvini goes on offense in final push to force Italian election

Bloomberg

Matteo Salvini dangled the prospect of tax cuts and a boost in government spending for Italians in a final push to force new elections that could secure him the premiership.
Salvini, who has called time on his alliance with the Five Star Movement and is seeking to cash in on strong poll ratings, promised in a radio interview that the League would pass a 2020 budget containing tax cuts and investments worth $55 billion to help revive Italy’s sclerotic economy.
The deputy premier’s latest salvo came just hours before PM Giuseppe Conte was due to address parliament in Rome, almost certainly signaling the formal end of his administration.
Salvini’s power grab has run into trouble in recent days, with Five Star and
the opposition Democratic Party — unlikely bedfellows who have traded insults and clashed on policy — weighing an alliance to thwart him.
Conte’s appearance in the senate was expected to lead to a confidence vote, and if he loses it would start the process of installing an alternative government or herald a new national ballot. However, Italian newspapers, including Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica and La Stampa, reportedon Tuesday that he plans to forego the vote and head directly to
the Quirinale presidential palace after his speech to hand in his resignation.
Leading officials from the Democratic Party (PD) have argued that their group should pair with Five Star, and there is a certain logic to a linkup now: polls suggest that Salvini would clean up in a snap election and both Five Star and the PD would likely be in for a long period in opposition.
While the rocky marriage between Luigi Di Maio’s Five Star and the League is certainly over, some media reports suggested that the two parties could continue to govern without Salvini in the cabinet.