The election of the Senate speaker, who won the position despite a rebellion by Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, caused a rift in the newly formed right-wing coalition in Italy on Thursday.
Since it handily won the election on September 25 and failed its first opportunity to demonstrate its ability to work together at the Senate vote, the alliance lead by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy faction has struggled to reach consensus over Cabinet positions.
In the 200-seat upper chamber, Ignazio La Russa of Brothers of Italy won with 116 votes, thanks to opposition senators who voted in his favour in a secret ballot to make up for Forza Italia senators who defected.
On the opening day of the new parliament, amid allegations and recriminations, it was unclear whether opposition MPs had supported La Russa, a hard-right veteran who started his career in the post-fascist Italian Social Movement.
After years of unstable regimes, the right-wing coalition, which consists of Brothers of Italy, Forza Italia, and Matteo Salvini’s League, has pledged to provide political stability to the nation.
As opposition leaders denied being to blame for his election, La Russa assured the senators, ‘I will endeavour with all my efforts to be the speaker for everyone.’
Political insiders claim that former prime minister Berlusconi is upset with Meloni, who is generally anticipated to be named prime minister, since he has rejected several of his demands for the new ministerial team, which is not expected to be named before October 20.
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