Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgettihas said he has no intention of heeding opposition calls for himto quit after the Lower House last week voted against ratifyingthe reform of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).
"As long as the ruling majority supports my approach to serious,credible, sustainable projects, I don't see why I should leave,"Giorgetti said in an interview published in Sunday's edition ofdaily newspaper Il Giornale.
"As I have already said, the opposition has every right to makesuggestions, but then it's up to me to decide".
Italy is the only EU country not to have ratified the reform ofthe ESM, the eurozone's bailout fund.
The reform is controversial here due to concerns about itsimpact on budget sovereignty and Premier Giorgia Meloni'sgovernment has also said the ESM's resources should be harnessedfor growth.
The opposition have said the government is damaging Italy'scredibility by failing to respect the commitment to ratify thetreaty that had been made by previous executives.
In this week's vote, Giorgetti's own League party and Meloni'sright-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) both voted against ratifyingthe ESM treaty, while the other main partner in the rulingcoalition, the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) group, abstained.
On Friday Giorgetti said that, given his position, he had aninterest in seeing the reform ratified, but was not surprised itwas not.
On Saturday Deputy Premier, Transport Minister and League leaderMatteo Salvini, who has long campaigned against ratifying thereform, said Giorgetti's position was solid and there was nocontradiction between the party's stance and that of theminister.
Also on Saturday European Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentilonisaid that the irritation within the eurozone and within the EUinstitutions at the failure to ratify the treaty wasunderstandable.
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