An opposition motion of no-confidence in Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini in relation to his right-wing League party's ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin's party United Russia has been tabled for April 3 or 4 in the Lower House, House whips said Wednesday.
The notion was tabled by the centrist opposition party Azione of former industry minister Carlo Calenda and later signed by the populist 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), as well as by smaller leftwing parties.
Salvini has been under fire for refusing to blame Putin for the death in a Siberian prison of prominent dissident and opposition leader Alexei Navalny, as well as for the League's reported failure to formally sever ties to United Russia.
Calenda said the League is "still pro-Putin, albeit less openly than in the past, out of political calculation".
Salvini also said the Russian people were right to re-elect Putin.
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