Salvini reveals merkel-macron plot to oust him from italian government

The die-hard eurosceptic, leader of right-wing party Lega, referred to an agreement made between the Democratic Party (PD), the Five Star Movement (M5S), Silvio Berlusconi, Emmanuel Macron

and Angela Merkel to support Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission President following Jean-Claude Juncker's term. Matteo Salvini, who instructed his party to vote against Ms von

der Leyen in July, claimed this agreement was the beginning of an anti-Salvini coalition between M5S and PD who are now in talks to form a new Italian Government.  Speaking at a press

conference in the Italian Senate on Monday, Mr Salvini said: “If the Prime Minister can’t change but with nonchalance we can go from Lega to PD in less than a week, evidently the agreement

made in Brussels to vote for the Commission imposed by Merkel and Macron, was an agreement that had the objective of making Italy retrocede. “At this point, all the negative responses

received in the last weeks and months from the Government’s partners can also be explained. “I reiterate with strength and pride Lega’s decision because dignity, honour and coherence are

worth a lot more than a thousand ministerial positions.” It comes as talks on forming a new Italian government ran into trouble on Tuesday as the ruling M5S and the opposition PD traded

accusations over key jobs, including that of interior minister. READ MORE: MATTEO SALVINI SETTING 'TRAP' FOR EX ALLIES TO SECURE POWER OVER EU The anti-establishment M5S suspended

negotiations with the centre-left PD until it clearly committed to the return of outgoing Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte as PM. The PD meanwhile accused M5S of undermining the formation of a

new cabinet by demanding the interior ministry for its leader, Luigi Di Maio. "The government agreement is at risk of failure due to the personal ambitions of Luigi Di Maio, who wants

to be the Minister of the Interior and the Deputy Prime Minister," the PD spokesman said. "On this Luigi Di Maio pays attention to nobody and proceeds through ultimatums," the

spokesman said. M5S sources later said Di Maio - a deputy prime minister in the outgoing administration who also served as economic development and labour minister - had never demanded the

interior ministry. The row echoed the in-fighting that preceded the collapse of M5S's 14-month-old coalition with the right-wing Lega earlier in August. Luigi Di Maio called a halt to

the talks on Tuesday in a statement that contrasted sharply with the previous day's apparent progress. "Yesterday after four hours of talks, nothing was achieved," the

statement said. "We cannot any longer work like this. Either the attitude changes or it's difficult. We will see the PD again when the party has given its OK to the reappointment

of Conte." DON'T MISS:  ITALY CRISIS: SALVINI HINTS AT COALITION BREAKTHROUGH [INSIGHT] 'ITALY MUST LEAVE THE EUROZONE!' LEAGUE VOWS TO ROCK BRUSSELS [VIDEO] SALVINI

GOVERNMENT WOULD DELIVER ‘FATAL BLOW’ TO THE EUROZONE [ANALYSIS] Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who belongs to no party but is close to M5S, resigned last week after League leader Matteo

Salvini declared the governing coalition was broken and called for snap elections. On Monday Mr Conte took part in a four-hour meeting with M5S leader Luigi Di Maio and PD chief Nicola

Zingaretti. M5S complained late in the night that the PD had not yet unequivocally backed Mr Conte to lead the new government. PD said many details had still to be worked out. The two

parties are due to report back to President Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday. If they have not sealed a deal by then, Mattarella will name a caretaker government and call early elections.