Italy's Conte promises radical change in address to parliament

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Italy's new prime minister promised on Tuesday to bring radical change to the country as he sought parliamentary backing for an anti-establishment government which plans to challenge European Union rules on budgets and immigration.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte addressed the Senate, flanked by the leaders of two formerly fringe parties that formed a ruling coalition last week and nominated the little-known legal expert to lead their coalition government.

Italy's newly sworn-in Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (C) addresses senators flanked by Italy’s Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini (C-R) and Italy’s Economic Development and Labour Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio (C-L) during a debate ahead of a confidence vote in the Italian Senate in Rome, June 5, 2018. /VCG Photo

"The truth is that we have created a radical change and we're proud of it," Conte told the Senate, where he is expected to win a confidence vote later in the day.

A vote in the lower house is set for Wednesday. The coalition, made up of the 5-Star Movement and the League, has about a 10-vote majority in the Senate and a wider margin in the lower house.

Conte, 53, said the government's priorities would be to address social hardship through the introduction of a universal income and to stem an influx of irregular immigrants by tackling the "business of immigration."

A general view during an address by Italy's newly sworn-in Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (C) to senators as part of a debate ahead of a confidence vote in the Italian Senate in Rome, June 5, 2018. /VCG Photo

He said rules governing the euro zone should be "aimed at helping citizens" but added: "Europe is our home."

Conte's remarks echoed the policy program set out in a coalition accord signed by the 5-Star Movement, which grew out of a grassroots protest network, and the right-wing League.

It amounts to a budget-busting agenda of tax cuts and higher welfare spending.

The League in particular is seeking to clamp down on irregular migration, with party leader Matteo Salvini pledging that Italy will no longer be "Europe's refugee camp."

Once the parliamentary votes are over, Conte will leave for his first international summit, a G7 meeting in Canada that starts on Friday.

Source(s): Reuters