Italian president to meet PM over disputed govt lineup

ROME: Italian President Sergio Mattarella will receive prime minister-designate Giuseppe Conte at 7 pm (1700 GMT) after a days-long standoff over the composition of Italy’s next cabinet, media reports said on Sunday.

Conte was seen heading to the parliament building in Rome where he was hammering out a final lineup to present to the president, who has rejected the populist coalition’s proposed finance minister, the eurosceptic Paolo Savona.

The far-right League and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) have yet to set up shop in Rome since scoring the most votes in Italy’s inconclusive elections nearly three months ago.

Conte, 53, won Mattarella’s approval as the next prime minister last week. But the impasse over Savona has seen League chief Matteo Salvini digging in his heels, suggesting that a new election may be on the cards if the standoff continues.