Italian Deputy PM Salvini paved the way for...>

ITALY: Italian Deputy PM Salvini paved the way for snap elections late Thursday,

as he stated that "Italy can no longer put up with the no's, we need yes's, we

need to unblock, to build, to work - enough is enough, we must go to elections."

- The feud between Salvini's League Party & its coalition partner, 5-Star, is

well documented. 5-star actually holds more seats in parliament at present, but

Salvini has been riding a wave of public support which has left the League clear

at the top of the polls & able to shrug off scandal.

- He also gained a clear margin of victory in Italy's European elex. There is a

chance, based on polls & European elex performance, that Salvini could garner

40% of the vote in a fresh election, the threshold for a party to govern alone.

- Parliament is currently on summer recess, but could sit next week. It will

then have to conduct a no confidence vote on the gov't, if the motion passes

elections will follow. PM Conte said that Salvini must explain to Italians why

he wanted to bring down the gov't (Salvini has pointed to populist support).

- Politico poll of polls: https://emedia.marketnews.com/italypol.PNG

- Fitch will assess Italy's sovgn debt rating (BBB; outlook negative) on Friday.