Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella has one hell of a dilemma. He asks the largest party in parliament to see if it can put together a workable government. If it should prove unequal the task, then the next party on the list gets a chance. His extreme politics will make that more difficult than it might have been for Berlusconi, and certainly rules out any possibility of support from the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), which currently runs the country. Italy’s political quagmire remains as intractable as ever.

Source: The Irish Times March 05, 2018 18:56 UTC