ROME, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Members of Italy's populist Five-Star Movement on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to support the government's plan to join forces with the center-left Democratic Party - its former political rival - to form a new Italian government.
In an unusual online vote on Tuesday using the party's Rousseau voting platform, nearly four out of five supporters voted in favor of the proposed government plan, which would allow Giuseppe Conte to return to the prime minister's office he held for nearly 15 months.
The previous government, also headed by Conte, was supported by the Five-Star Movement together with the nationalist, right-wing League. Once the new Conte government takes power, the League will become the main opposition party.
In the final vote tally, 63,146 Five-Star Movement members voted in favor of a coalition with the Democratic Party, with 16,488 against. That breaks down to 79.3 percent in favor; 20.7 percent against.
The Rousseau platform vote was necessitated after negotiations between Conte, Five-Star Movement head Luigi Di Maio, and Nicola Zingaretti, head of the Democratic Party, stalled in negotiations over details about what would be included in the joint platform of the new government.
With the vote, the parties can complete work on the joint platform and Conte can make his picks for the ministerial posts, which he will present to Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
