Politics
Italy's Populist Partners Dig In as Internal Battle Intensifies
- Salvini, Di Maio at loggerheads on rail link, legal case
- ‘Blackmail’ is League chief’s latest accusation against ally
Luigi Di Maio, left, and Matteo Salvini.
Photographer: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images
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Tensions between Italy’s populist allies, the League and the Five Star Movement, are intensifying, with Deputy Premiers Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio fighting a two-front battle over an Alpine rail link and a legal case involving Salvini.
The unlikely partners are at loggerheads over whether to proceed with a $10 billion high-speed rail project, backed by Salvini’s pro-business, rightist League, and whether the Rome Senate should allow an investigation into his refusal to let the Diciotti migrant ship dock at an Italian port last summer.