5-Star Movement (M5S) leader and former prime minister Giuseppe Conte said Friday that he wants to strengthen ties to Italy's other main opposition group, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), adding that a drive to shorten the working week could be an area for cooperation .
"I think the dialogue that has already started with the PDshould be strengthened in the common interest of a betterItaly," Conte said at an event in Rome.
"Our efforts can only be oriented towards change.
"The M5s has an innovative drive, I would say a revolutionaryone, (a drive for) a gentle revolution.
"We have already achieved results in terms of convergence, such as with the battle for a minimum wage.
"Today we are widening that front.
"I heard (PD leader Elly) Schlein speak about reducing working hours with the same level of pay.
"This is a proposal of ours, and we can converge with the PD onit." Several commentators, such as ex-premier and former European Commission president Romano Prodi, have said that the only way to beat Premier Giorgia Meloni's right/centre-right alliance is for all the opposition parties to form a broad coalition featuring the M5S, the PD, the Green-Left Alliance (AVS) and centrist groups like Azione.
But so making such efforts have had limited success.
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