Italy's M5S says to seek govt on its own

ROME - The Five Star Movement (M5S), which holds the balance of power in Italy after winning more than a quarter of votes in last month's national elections, said Sunday that it would only consider forming its own government.

"We will ask President Giorgio Napolitano to form a government from our own," Vito Crimi, who was named the anti-establishment movement's leader in the Senate, told reporters.

In Italy, the president has the power to decide who is to be given a mandate to try to form a government, in accordance with existing conditions for winning confidence in both of the parliament's houses.

"We will not make agreements in exchange for something else," said Roberta Lombardi, the movement's leader in the lower chamber.

She ruled out any alliance with the center-left coalition, which obtained a narrow win in the election but failed to get a working majority in the Senate.

Beppe Grillo, a former comedian who heads the M5S, said that should the movement's parliamentary groups give a confidence vote "to those who destroyed Italy," he would "peacefully retire from politics."

During the elections, the M5S, the youngest political party in Europe, called for political expense cuts, a proper solution to Italy's environmental issues, and basic income guarantees in the country.

The movement won more than 8 million protest voters, a success seen by local analysts as a signal that Italians are deeply dissatisfied with the country's elderly political class, which was hit by a series of corruption scandals and has proven unable to tackle the economic crisis.

On Friday, Napolitano called on the new parliament to hold its first session. Once the two houses are open, he will begin formal talks to give a mandate to attempt to form a government.

Should the new government fail to shore up enough support from parliament, the president may appoint a caretaker cabinet to rule for a short period and push through urgent measures.

Last week, the Democratic Party, which leads the center-left coalition, said Italians would have to go to the polls again later this year if it failed to reach an agreement on forming a new government with the M5S.