Mattarella gives parties 5 days to build majority

Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday gave Italy’s bickering parties five days to clinch a deal to resolve a political crisis and avoid a snap election.

The eurozone’s third-largest economy is in political turmoil after its government, riven by months of infighting, imploded this week, forcing Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to resign just as he was to begin preparing the 2020 budget.

Speaking to reporters in the presidential palace after two days of talks with parties, Mattarella said dissolving Parliament just 17 months after the last election was a decision that should not be taken lightly. He said some parties had told him they were trying to form a solid majority and he told them to report back on Tuesday for two more days of consultations.

“I have a duty to ask for rapid decisions,” the 78-year-old president said, citing the urgency of Italy’s European Union commitments and its difficult economic situation.

Mattarella did not name any parties, but hopes of a deal center on the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which has governed since last year with the hard-right League, and the center-left opposition Democratic Party.