Former industry minister Carlo
Calenda on Thursday presented the September 25 general election
programme of the 'third pole' alliance between his centrist
Azione (Action) party and the centrist Italia Viva (IV) party of
former premier and former centre-left Democratic Party (PD)
leader Matteo Renzi.
The two main planks of the platform are persuading outgoing
premier Mario Draghi, the former European central banker, to
stay on as prime minister and to help him keep implementing
reforms to qualify for the remaining billions of the huge
EU-funded post COVID National Recovery and Resilience Plan
(NRRP).
Draghi, who was brought down by a revolt by three populist
parties in his national unity government last month, has said he
has no intention of carrying on as premier.
Calenda, who leads the Azione-IV alliance as its premiership
candidate, unveiled the manifesto alongside outgoing ministers
Mara Carfagna (South) and Mariastella Gelmini (regional
affairs), who left Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) party
after the anti-Draghi rebellion, and another outgoing minister,
the IV's Elena Bonetti (equal opportunities).
Among the third pole's other electoral proposals are slashing
all maternity costs for businesses and bringing back vouchers
for carers and other domestic assistants.
IV bigwig Maria Elena Boschi also said the alliance agreed with
Berlusconi that acquittals should not be appealable by
prosecutors, a proposal that caused controversy when the
scandal-plagued former three-time premier and media mogul made
it Wednesday.
Calenda predicted that the PD, which split with the 5-Star
Movement (M5S) after M5S leader and former premier Giuseppe
Conte started the ball roling on the anti-Draghi revolt, would
patch things up and get back together with the populist party
after the elections, which the centre right is projected to win.
The former industry minister also said "the doors are always
open" to moderates who are running for the PD and its allies
like economist Carlo Cottarelli, former foreign minister,
Radical leader and European commissioner Emma Bonino, and former
trade unionist Marco Bentivogli.
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