Italy’s Democratic Party (PD) chief Pier Luigi Bersani yesterday denied an imminent split of his bloc, the largest in Parliament, amid increasing criticism of his leadership during a prolonged political stalemate.
The PD is divided over whether to join forces with its centre-right rival Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who says a “grand coalition” is the only way to break the political impasse caused by February’s inconclusive national vote.
Bersani has repeatedly ruled out an alliance with Berlusconi, an unpalatable figure for many PD voters, but high-ranking party officials increasingly argue that a government with the media tycoon is a better option than a snap vote.
The February 24-25 election gave the centre left control of the lower house but not the Senate, where only an alliance with Berlusconi’s centre right or Beppe Grillo’s 5-Star Movement would permit the formation of a government.
The PD chief sought to woo the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, but he has not opened to the PDL even though he was forced to admit to President Giorgio Napolitano before Easter that he failed.
Matteo Renzi, the mayor of Florence who lost a party primary to Bersani last year, has voiced increasingly open dissent with his leader’s strategy, saying the centre left must either deal with Berlusconi or accept new elections.
When asked by reporters yesterday whether the party was on the verge of splitting, Bersani responded: “We don’t have problems of this kind.”
But PD President Rosy Bindi said yesterday the party should support a government led by an “institutional” figure picked by the President to head off an early vote, according to an interview with la Stampa newspaper.
She did not say who should back such an administration, but the 5-Star Movement has repeatedly said it would not give a vote of confidence in any government, and the PDL is the only other force that has the numbers to permit its formation.
And PD deputy Dario Franceschini said he was “worried” the party would split, in a television talk show late on Wednesday.
Recently Franceschini said Bersani should “abandon the superiority complex” and deal with Berlusconi, 76, who is the leader of the centre right despite his legal troubles, including a trial for having sex with an underage prostitute.
Berlusconi “lacks credibility” and cannot be a trusted ally, the PD’s economic spokesman Stefano Fassina, who is close to Bersani, repeated yesterday.
As the internal party pressure grew, the PD chief opened up to talks with the centre right to select a new head of state.
Bersani yesterday met Berlusconi ally Roberto Maroni, leader of the Northern League party, to discuss electing a new president to replace Napolitano with “a very broad majority” in Parliament.
Napolitano’s mandate ends on May 15.
Italy’s President is an important figure during political crises. The head of state has the power to choose potential prime ministers and dissolve Parliament, something Napolitano cannot do in the final months of his mandate because the law forbids it.
Bersani met with Berlusconi on Tuesday to discuss the criteria for selecting a politically neutral president when voting starts on April 19, but both said they did not talk about the formation of a government.
Fabrizio Cicchitto, a senior member of Berlusconi’s party, said yesterday he personally favoured Luciano Violante, a long-time PD member and former lower house speaker, to be the next president, and that he expressed his view to Berlusconi.
Bersani met Violante in the lower house yesterday after his meeting with Maroni, but neither commented afterward.
Italian centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani. Photo: Reuters