(Bloomberg) -- Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement said Sunday that its coalition partner the League -- and its leadership -- is “no longer a credible interlocutor,” setting the stage for a full-blown split that could realign the nation’s politics.

Five Star’s move to distance itself from Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s League came as Italy’s political parties began to jockey for position in the run-up to an expected showdown in the Senate in Rome on Tuesday, where Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is set to make an address.

If Conte loses an eventual confidence vote in the government or quits, elections could be on the way if no alternative majority is formed. Five Star has pledged to support Conte, though he’d still likely be defeated in a confidence measure.

“The Movement will be in the chamber of the Senate by the side of Giuseppe Conte on Aug. 20,” the Five Star’s leadership said in its statement.

If Five Star breaks away from the anti-immigration League, it could team up to form a new government with the Democratic Party, or PD, a possibility made more credible Sunday by an endorsement of such an allegiance by former Prime Minister Romano Prodi, a leading figure in the left-leaning PD.

To contact the reporters on this story: Vernon Silver in Rome at vtsilver@bloomberg.net;Alessandro Speciale in Rome at aspeciale@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Robert Blau at rblau1@bloomberg.net, Jerrold Colten, Tommaso Ebhardt

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