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22.08.19 3 FROM PAGE 1 On Tuesday, Italian Prime Minis- ter Giuseppe Conte resigned after a hard-hitting speech where he accused his deputy prime minister Salvini of putting personal interests before the country's. is pulled the plug on the government, a coalition between the Northern League and the M5S, thrust- ing the country into a political limbo. It is now up to President Sergio Mat- tarella to decide whether a new coali- tion can be formed, or whether an elec- tion has to be called. Mattarella started consultations on Wednesday with key political players, in an attempt to form a ruling coalition. According to the Italian constitution, Mattarella has to first consult ex-pres- idents, with Senator Giorgio Napoli- tano, 94, being the only living former head of state. is discussion will be followed by talks with house speakers and the leaders of political groups. Zammit, a MISCO founding partner, told Business- Today that he expected an ele- ment of political manoeuvering to take place at this stage. "I believe that there is a strong pos- sibility that the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party form a new government," he said, "I also believe that the Democratic Par- ty would accept having the outgoing Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, as Prime Minister." "e issues that may arise will essen- tially deal with the political vision of the two partners. To what extent will the Democratic Party live with the euros- cepticism of the Five Start Movement?" Zammit asked. e crisis, which culmi- nated this week, was triggered on 8 August by Sal- vini, who announced that his anti-immigra- tion League party would be pulling out of the co- alition with M5S, which lasted 14 months. Salvini called for an election, in a bid to secure "full powers" for his party. is may prove to be a gamble for the far-rightist, however, as he may well end up in the Opposition in a parliament where the M5S hold a majority. Short of calling an election as de- manded by Salvini, President Mattarel- la may opt either for a short-term in- stitutional government entrusted with approving a budget before taking the country to the polls next year or for a more durable government based on a political pact between the MS5 and the Democrats. "It was thought that Matteo Salvini would start a triumphal electoral cam- paign that would eventually land him the prime Minister's job after the next election. However, he has made a num- ber of mistakes in the last days which must have dented his popularity," Zam- mit told this newspaper. Asked how the different possible sce- narios could affect the Maltese land- scape, Zammit said that the impact on Malta will depend on the policy of any incoming Italian government has to- wards the EU. "If Matteo Salvini were ever to become Prime Minister, the chances are that It- aly would exit the euro. e Five Star Movement have become more prag- matic towards the euro. ey recognise its benefits for the Italian economy but would like to have more flexibility with regard to its fiscal policy," he under- scored. One would also need to assess, he highlighted, whether there would be any change with regard to Italy immi- gration policy. "e stand-offs that we have seen in recent days and weeks between Matteo Salvini and the [migrant rescue] NGOs may not repeat themselves. However, I doubt if Italy will change its policy to any significant extent with regard to im- migration," Zammit added. Italy could leave the Euro if Salvini becomes PM - Zammit Italy's president Sergio Mattarella (left) yesterday started meeting political leaders in a bid to establish whether there is enough of a commong ground among any of the main parties to form a technical government. Here he is seem meeting the Speaker of the House Roberto Fico Lawrence Zammit THE euro area annual inflation rate was 1.0% in July 2019, down from 1.3% in June. A year earlier, the rate was 2.2%. European Union annual inflation was 1.4% in July 2019, down from 1.6% in June. A year earlier, the rate was 2.2%. ese figures were published by Eurostat, the sta- tistical office of the European Union. e lowest annual rates were registered in Portugal (-0.7%), Cyprus (0.1%) and Italy (0.3%). e highest an- nual rates were recorded in Romania (4.1%), Hungary (3.3%), Latvia and Slovakia (both 3.0%). Compared with June, annual inflation fell in fifteen Member States, re- mained stable in two and rose in eleven. In July, the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from services (+0.53 percentage points, pp), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.37 pp), non-energy industrial goods (+0.08 pp) and energy (+0.05 pp). Annual inflation down to 1.0% in the euro area

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