Italy’s new coalition government approved after close senate vote

New administration is coalition of centre-left and anti-establishment populists

Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (centre) delivers a speech as foreign minister Luigi Di Maio (left) and interior minister Luciana Lamorgese look on (AFP/Getty)

Italy’s new coalition government has been given the green light after a close vote in the country’s senate.

The administration of the anti-establishment populist Five Star Movement and centre-left Democratic Party was approved by 169 to 133 in the 321-seat chamber.

The day before it had won a confidence vote in the Italian parliament’s lower house, meaning the government has cleared the last hurdle to formation.

In Italy both houses of parliament vote on whether they have confidence in an incoming government, which has historically complicated the process of government formation compared to other European countries.

The new government replaces a coalition between the Five Star Movement and the far-right League party, which collapsed in acrimony over the summer – caused by a mixture of policy differences and personality clashes.

The incoming administration has said it will pursue an “expansive” economic policy, suggesting investment and spending increases. But the new government says it won’t jeopardise the public finances. State spending is a major political issue in Italy because of the country’s brushes with eurozone public debt rules.

It is also expected to be more pro-EU than the outgoing administration. Former interior minister Matteo Salvini, the leader of the League, had tried to form an anti-immigration axis with other far-right and populist groups from around the continent.

“Our doors are open to those who think first of their dignity rather than their seat [in power],” Mr Salvini said on Tuesday, in a bid to get some Five Star Movement supporters to defect to his group.

The new government’s prime minister is Giuseppe Conte, who also led the old administration, but resigned after Mr Salvini said he would table a no-confidence vote in him.

The formation of the new government means Italy avoids early elections, in which the League were expected to make gains, according to polls.