He agreed to lead a government of national unity and gave in when he felt he did not have enough support for a non-political executive in Italy. Former European Central Bank Governor Mario Draghi handed his resignation letter to President Sergio Mattarella, the same one who asked him in 2021 to lay the foundations for a recovery of the covid-19 pandemic in the country in the middle. economic downturn. Mattarella refused, asking him to return to Parliament to see if he had a majority.
Em February last year, all parties with parliamentary representation, except for the “Brothers of Italy” (post-fascists), entered the ruling coalition. OUR threat of loss of support from the 5 Star Movement (anti-system), the formation that received the most votes in the last elections in 2018, has been growing for several weeks. This has now materialized when the party’s elected representatives refused to participate in a vote of confidence on the proposal in the Senate. Draghi did win the vote, but as he explained in a statement, he believes “the majority of national unity that has maintained this government since its inception no longer exists” and is ending “the trust pact that underpins the government’s actions.”
He was not required to resign; in fact, several centre-left parties have asked him not to, and some insist that the best way out of the crisis is indeed a Draghi bis government – an expression that everyone knows in Italy highlights how the situation, despite the complexity , is not unprecedented; already in this legislature there was a “conte bis” when Giuseppe Conte, leader of 5 Stars and former prime ministeragreed on a second government with different parties without a vote.
“I think government continuity would be very important at the moment,” he said. Enrico Lettathe general secretary of the Democratic Party (the largest center-left formation), as if refusing to recognize the alternative.
Formally, Mattarella can instruct Draghi to agree on a new majority. So far, it is known that he will return to parliament next Wednesday (international obligations that cannot be postponed prevent him from doing so earlier) to discuss the political situation. But his quick dismissal after the loss of 5 Star support was confirmed suggests he may have given up. your time ahead of country destinations.
The president wants to avoid elections in the autumn months – the next legislative election is scheduled for spring 2023 – in the midst of approving projects to use the 209 billion euros given to Italy by the EU Recovery Plan. If Draghi is not present, negotiations are already underway on who can lead the new head of the unit. But the far right is demanding that Italians be called to vote, ending a legislature that has too many political crises, twists and turns and theatrical upheavals even by Italian standards.
“With Draghi’s resignation, this legislature for the Brothers of Italy is over,” he tweeted. Georgia Meloni, the leader of the party currently leads the polls. “I am ready to manage,” Meloni emphasized, and Matteo Salvinithe leader of the League, who led a far-right coalition in 2018 (but now fears Meloni’s results and the election costs associated with supporting Draghi), defended that a period of political paralysis would be “unthinkable” and that “no one should be afraid to give back the floor to Italians.”
“Perplexity” in Brussels
5 Estrelas de Conte, on the other hand, plunged into an internal crisis for several months, still managing a split and the loss of some of his elected representatives – and at the very bottom of the polls – seemed almost surprised by the consequences of his decision. This is despite the fact that Draghi has made it clear that the government will not continue without this support.
Departed foreign minister Luigi Di Maio, former leader of 5 Stars movement and created his own party, “Together for the Future” accused the current leaders of the formation of having a plan to overthrow Draghi for several months. “They have nine months of campaigning to go to the polls, but by doing so they are dooming the country to an economic and social abyss,” he said.
Even before the vote, this Thursday, Di Maio won another seat in the Senate, and Senator Cynthia Leone decided to move to her parliamentary group, “disillusioned with Conte” and “disillusioned with politics” 5 Estrela.
In Brussels, European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni, a former Italian prime minister, said the Commission was following developments in Italy “with due detachment, but with unsettling bewilderment.”
