5-Star will be pillar of Italian government if exit polls confirmed": MP

[ROME] Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement will be central to the next government if exit polls are confirmed from Sunday's national elections, a prominent lawmaker from the party said.

"We will be a pillar of the legislature," Alfonso Bonafede, a close ally of 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio, said in comments broadcast on La7 television, adding that the early data needed to be read with caution.

Exit polls showed 5-Star as the largest party by a wide margin, although a centre-right coalition including former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi looked set to win the most seats.

REUTERS