According to a new poll, only 32 per cent of Italians are positive about the new coalition deal between the populist Five Star Movement and the establishment left-wing Democratic Party (PD).
Nearly have of those who responded to the poll, 44 per cent, held a negative view of the new coalition which met the approval of members of the Five Star Movement (M5S) earlier this week, Italian newspaper Il Giornale reports.
The majority of voters say that a new government, rather than the previous one between the M5S and populist leader Matteo Salvini’s League party, would be preferable, but they were negative about the new coalition. When asked separately if they would back fresh elections, 55 per cent agreed.
Polls also show that the current coalition would not have the votes to form a government if an election were held and that Salvini’s League still remains in first place with 35 per cent of the vote and the centre-right alliance, of which the League is a member, could see a result of nearly 50 per cent.
Salvini commented on the new coalition on Wednesday, as he steps down from the office of interior minister, saying that both the M5S and the PD were cowards for not letting the Italian people vote in an early election.
“The only fault I have is that I was naive. I thought I was living in a democratic country,” Salvini said.
Salvini also justified his move to break with the Five Stars and collapse the previous government stating: “The latest poll says that 90 per cent of League voters are in favour of the break: the move has united our people. I only receive encouragement to move forward.”
“The League is by far the first party in Italy, one in three voters are with me. In a crisis of consensus, they would let us vote. In reality, it is the opposite,” he said.
Many are concerned that the left-wing PD will look to repeal the anti-mass migration decrees of Salvini and reopen the ports to NGOs ferrying migrants from the North African coast.
Others, such as major police unions, are concerned the PD will also repeal security policies enacted by Salvini and fear the new government will be “anti-police”.
According to Il Giornale, the PD may also be looking to push the policy of birthright citizenship which would open Italy to the potential of illegal migrants having children on Italian soil that would become so-called “anchor babies”, a phenomenon prevalent in the United States.