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Reuters
Reuters
Business
By Angelo Amante and Giuseppe Fonte

Italy's rightist coalition splits over electing Senate speaker

Newly elected Senate Speaker Ignazio La Russa gives his first speech in the upper house of parliament in Rome, Italy, October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Italy's new rightist coalition got off to an inauspicious start on Thursday when it split over the election of the Senate speaker, who clinched the post despite a revolt by Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.

The alliance led by Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy group has been struggling to agree over Cabinet posts ever since it easily won the Sept. 25 election, and it failed its first public test of unity in the Senate vote.

Leader of Brothers of Italy party Giorgia Meloni casts her vote during the second voting session at the lower house of parliament to elect the new speaker in Rome, Italy, October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Ignazio La Russa, from Brothers of Italy, was elected speaker with 116 votes in the 200-seat upper chamber thanks to opposition senators who supported him in the secret ballot, making up for the defections by Forza Italia.

Amid accusations and recriminations on the first day of the new parliament it was not immediately clear which opposition politicians had backed La Russa, a hard-right veteran who began his career in the post-fascist Italian Social Movement.

The right-wing bloc, which includes Brothers of Italy, Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini's League, have promised to bring political stability to the country after years of short-lived governments.

Forza Italia leader and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sits in the upper house of parliament during the first voting session to elect the speaker of the Senate in Rome, Italy, October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

"I will try with all my efforts to be the speaker for everybody," La Russa told the senators, as opposition chiefs denied they were responsible for his election.

Political sources say former premier Berlusconi is furious with Meloni, who is widely expected to be named prime minister, for refusing some of his demands for the new ministerial team which is not due to be named before Oct. 20.

The 86-year-old media magnate said his senators had abstained due to their "strong unease over the vetoes imposed in the last few days concerning the formation of the government."

Senate officials applaud following the announcement of the results of the first voting session to elect the speaker of the Senate in Rome, Italy, October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

He said he hoped these "vetoes" would be dropped in order to allow "loyal and effective collaboration with the other coalition parties to quickly give the country a new government."

Former businessman Carlo Calenda, leader of the centrist Action party, denied his senators provided La Russa with the votes he needed.

"I have nothing to do with it," he told reporters, describing the new speaker as "post-fascist and unvotable."

President of the Senate for the day Liliana Segre speaks with former Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini in the upper house of parliament during the first voting session to elect the speaker of the Senate in Rome, Italy, October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

The lower house Chamber of Deputies also voted on Thursday to elect a speaker, with a wider two-thirds majority initially required for the winning candidate.

This threshold was not met during three rounds of voting and the election will resume on Friday when only an absolute majority will be needed.

Under a coalition deal the post is due to go to the League, which changed candidate late on Thursday, substituting Riccardo Molinari with Lorenzo Fontana, one of Salvini's deputy leaders who is known for his socially conservative, anti-gay positions.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante and Giuseppe Fonte; writing by Gavin Jones; editing by Alvise Armellini and Jonathan Oatis)

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