MIGRANT ROW
Italian PM Conte QUITS after migrant boat row with far right wing minister Matteo Salvini
ITALIAN PM Giuseppe Conte has sensationally quit amid a bitter and growing row with far right minister Matteo Salvini over migrant boats.
The move leaves the country's fragile coalition government on the brink of collapse after Conte - who belongs to neither of the two partners - said he could no longer work with either party.
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Mr Conte, addressing parliament after it was recalled from its summer recess to decide the future of the barely year-old government, accused the far right League party chief Salvini of seeking to cash in on his rising popularity.
"(Salvini) has shown that he is following his own interests and those of his party," Conte told a packed Senate, with a stony-faced Salvini sitting by his side.
"His decisions pose serious risks for this country."
Conte, who belongs to neither of the coalition's two parties, was widely expected to resign later in the day, opening the way for the head of state to begin consultations with parties to see if a new coalition can be formed.
Failing that, President Sergio Mattarella would dissolve parliament.
(Salvini) has shown that he is following his own interests and those of his party
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte
Conte made his attack as Salvini sat right next to him, at times shaking his head, rolling his eyes or nodding to League senators as the prime minister unleashed a blistering critique of his actions over the past two weeks.
This has included Salvini's handling of the migrant crisis.
In the past 19 he has refused to allow the Spanish migrant rescue ship Open Arms to dock in Italy even though six other European countries have offered to take them in.
Desperate migrants today jumped off the ship into the sea in a bid to swim to land.
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On the other side of Conte sat Luigi Di Maio, head of the League's now-estranged coalition partner, the 5-Star Movement, which was branded as obstructionists by Salvini over the past 12 days, since he pulled the plug on their alliance.
Salvini has demanded early elections, 3-1/2 years ahead of schedule, confident his surging popularity will sweep him into power as prime minister and push the anti-establishment 5-Star into opposition.
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Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini declares that migrants on board of aid boat Lifeline would ‘only see Italy on a postcard’ after refusing it to dock
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