Alfano says he won’t stand for re-election

Rome, Dec 7 (IANS/AKI) Italy's foreign minster Angelino Alfano on Wednesday said he would not run again for parliament in national elections due next year.

"I won't be sitting on the benches of the next parliament. I have decided not to stand in the next elections," Alfano told Italian TV chat-show Porta Porta.

"I will show that it's possible to engage in politics from outside the palazzi," said Alfano, who heads the centre-right Popular Alternative party, a junior coalition partner in the government.

"I believe there are moments in which gestures need to be made. I want to show that everything we have done has been motivated by a deep respect for the country," he added.

Forty-seven-year-old Alfano has been Italy's foreign minister since December 2016 and previously served as interior minister.

Italy's parliamentary elections are due to be held by 20 May 2018.

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