Italy ruling parties press ahead with confidence vote – statement

ROME (Reuters) – Negotiations to try to avoid a parliamentary confidence vote that could trigger the collapse of the Italian government failed on Thursday after Prime Minister Mario Draghi said the vote must be held, a statement said.

Minister for Parliamentary Relations Federico D’Inca had opened discussions with coalition partners on the possibility of dropping the confidence vote on a cost-of-living aid package, thereby defusing the brewing political crisis.

The 5-Star Movement, which is a part of the coalition, said on Wednesday it would boycott the vote, throwing the future of Draghi’s government in doubt.

“Minister D’Inca talked with Prime Minister Draghi, who indicated that the only viable option was to ask for a vote of confidence in the Senate,” said a statement from D’Inca’s office.

The statement added that the confidence vote on a cost-of-living aid package will take place later on Thursday at the end of a debate on the bill in the Senate.

Sources had told Reuters that D’Inca had suggested allowing lawmakers to vote on the single articles of the stimulus package rather than on the decree as a whole.

The aid package includes a provision allowing the city of Rome to build a giant trash incinerator – a project 5-Star has always opposed.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; Writing by Giulia Segreti and Angelo Amante; Editing by Keith Weir and Crispian Balmer)