The leaders of the newly formed Italian centrist group announced yesterday that they will offer an alternative to the "populist" parties of the right and the left in the parliamentary elections scheduled for next month.
The Sept. 25 election was called after the fall of Mario Draghi's broad-based unity government in July when some key partners boycotted a confidence vote. The former head of the European Central Bank resigned but agreed to stay on as acting prime minister.
The centrist pact was made after the Azione (Azione) party headed by Karl Kalenda suddenly decided to leave the center-left coalition, citing as one of the reasons the presence of parties that did not support Dragi.
"Today, a serious and pragmatic alternative was born to the right-wing and left-wing populism that destroyed this country," Kalenda wrote on Twitter after signing an agreement with former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's Italy Viva party.
Reuters writes that Accione and Italy Viva together have about four percent of support and reports the results of a study published on Tuesday, according to which they would only get about 23 seats in the two houses of parliament.
Polls show that the conservative coalition led by Giorgio Meloni's Brothers of Italy party - which includes Matteo Salvini's League and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia - is on course to win a landslide majority.
Italian electoral law favors parties that form broad coalitions.
The center-left Democratic Party (PD) has also formed a coalition with several small parties of the center and the left, while the 5-Star Movement is expected to go to the polls alone.
"Italy needs us to avoid the populist nightmare and start dreaming about good politics again," Renzi wrote on Facebook. He said that Kalenda will lead the centrist group's campaign.
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