MNI EXCLUSIVE: Italy To Side Step Alliance With 5-Star -Offcls

--Renzi To Prevail, Anti 5-Star Positon Holds Sway At Moment 

--Democrats Divided Into 'Hawks', 'Doves' and 'Middle-Way' Moderates 

--Italy Can't Afford German-Style Post-Vote Deadlock: Official

By Silvia Marchetti

     ROME (MNI) - Italy faces a high risk of a second vote in the near future,

with the outgoing Democrats unlikely to support the 5-Star Movement in

government, a senior Democrat official told MNI ahead of a party directorate

meeting on Monday.

     Outgoing party leader Matteo Renzi's ultimate goal is to stop the party

being lured by 5-Star's 'government siren calls' and to avoid bowing to a

compromise just for the sake of staying in power.

     Outgoing party leader Matteo Renzi has pushed a hard line against allying

with the winning 5-Star Movement, "but there are minority forces that call for a

softer position in opening up to government formation talks and total

intransigence is risky," said the official, who asked not to be named given the

growing party dissent.

     --NO COALITION

     Renzi's ultimate goal is to stop the party being lured by 5-Star's

'government siren calls' and to avoid bowing to a compromise just for the sake

of staying in power.

     Sources close to the former premier highlighted that Renzi's preferred

option would be to go for a second vote, the likely outcome if the Democrats

shut all doors to dialogue and other parties fail to reach a majority to support

the next cabinet.

     The Democrats now face an internal battle over which position should

prevail: the 'dovish' stance to contribute in the formation of the future

government or Renzi's 'hawkish' one, which would close down all post-vote

dialogue with the potential of prolonging the stalemate and triggering a second

ballot before summer, the party official warned.

     "Renzi's battle line is clear: he is against talks with 5-Star. The voters'

choice was clear -- we should be the opposition," one of his close aides told

MNI.

     The aide noted that of the party's two internal dissident groups, only one

was in favour of teaming up with the populists and its power was quite limited.

That makes Renzi's hawkish line the prevailing one within the party at present.

     The official however argued that members of the minority could shift sides

in coming days and abandon all together the Democrat party.

     --ITALY NOT GERMANY

     Between the hawks and doves, there's also a third stream in the party,

dubbed the president's Club, that is currently trying to mediate a way forward.

     The group, including outgoing premier Paolo Gentiloni, aim to find a

solution and support head of state Sergio Mattarella in his task of identifying

the best governing majority.

     "Honestly, I see a German-style scenario ahead, with protracted party talks

and months-long deadlock. But the exception is that Berlin, given its economic

and political power, could afford such a stalemate while Italy can't," said the

party official.

     In any case, he added, it's 5 Star that should come knocking on the

Democrats' doors if they want to discuss potential alliances, and not the other

way round.

     "Their leader Luigi Di Maio is living in a fairy-tale. He believes that

just because his party has won the most votes, all other groups should come

begging on their feet," the official said.

     The Democrats suffered a heavy defeat in Sunday's election, with their

share of the voote crumbling to an historical low of 19%. That has forced Renzi

to resign the leadership. His formal letter of resignation has been forwarded to

the party but Renzi "will continue to exert his still predominant influence over

members to avoid a dangerous alliance with the populists," his aide said.

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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