He assures that the government unity “has gone” and that the pact of trust between the parties “has failed” after the senators of the 5-Star Movement refused to vote on the motion to support the Executive of which they are a part
Mario Draghi resigns. Tensions with the 5-Star Movement have been more powerful than the pact of confidence that the Italian forces offered it in February of last year to obtain a guide with sufficient credibility and management capacity to carry the Government forward in a period of strong disturbance. political and economic of the country. The prime minister has transferred this afternoon to the members of the cabinet of him who resigns from office. He has done so after a long week of confrontation with the M5E and a vote in the Senate in which today the deputies of this group have been absent and thus completed their slam of the government coalition.
Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank, has a reputation for decisiveness. “Tonight I resign,” he said in the Council of Ministers after speaking with the President of the Republic, Sergio Matarella, the same one who entrusted to him seventeen months ago the complicated mission of meeting with all the national political leaders and leaving the round with a government. “Today’s votes in Parliament are a very significant event from a political point of view. The majority of national unity that has supported this government since its creation has left,” declared the hitherto prime minister, who has underlined how “the confidence pact on the basis of government action has failed.”
Draghi recalls that in recent days, since he left the NATO Summit in Madrid to face a week of maximum tension with his predecessor in office and leader of the M5E, Giuseppe Conte, there have been many ups and downs. On the 6th, Conte promised to reduce the crisis if the prime minister adopted a nine-point document prepared by his party with changes in the economic and fiscal policy of the Executive. The next critical episode was experienced this Wednesday. Conte announced that his senators would not vote on Draghi’s motion of confidence and Draghi replied that in that case he would resign. The breakout script was completed this afternoon. But not without a recrimination and a lament from the head of the Government: «In these days there has been the maximum commitment on my part to continue on the common path, also trying to satisfy the needs that have been presented to me by the political forces. And, as is clear from today’s debate and vote in Parliament, this effort has not been enough.”
The prime minister is leaving in fulfillment of the commitment he made during his investiture in February 2021. He then promised that the Executive would only have continuity “if there was a clear perspective of being able to carry out the government program on which the political forces had voted your trust.” “They no longer exist”, he highlighted at his farewell, in which he asked his ministers to be “proud of the work we have done”.
Before communicating his resignation, Draghi spent an hour meeting with Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace. That he left Parliament to talk with the president already meant for almost everyone that the Executive was on the way to disappear. And all this despite the fact that the Senate ratified confidence in the Government with 172 in favor and 39 against.
Beppe Grillo, founder of the M5E, has supported the decision of his group to be absent from the Chamber at the time of voting. However, not everything has been congratulations. Ricardo Fraccaro, who served as undersecretary in the previous Conte government, has recognized that a dissolution of the Executive will lead to “chaos” in a period where what Italy needs is stability in the face of financial markets and the European Union. “I’m not sure if what we did today is the right thing,” he said, although he acknowledges that Draghi’s cabinet has made it “difficult” for the ‘anti-caste’, who have had “seven months without answers” to their economic demands and prosecutors. For his part, Matteo Renzi, founder of Italia Viva, has considered that, despite everything, “The Government must move forward”
The stability of the Italian Government passed today through the Senate of Rome, where the vote on a decree with aid to face the rise in prices has become a test of survival for the government coalition led by Mario Draghi. In particular, there was concern about what the 5-Star Movement (M5E) was going to do, the ‘anti-caste’ party whose leader, Giuseppe Conte, had been flirting for weeks with the idea of leaving the alliance that supports the Executive of the former president of the European Central Bank (ECB) . Finally, what the M5E agreed to last night was fulfilled. Its senators left the Upper House during the motion, considering that the 26,000 million euros of aid for families and companies contained in the decree are insufficient, and will thus open a crisis in the Government with unforeseeable consequences. The vote had been proposed as a confidence motion to speed up its parliamentary approval. Although Draghi would maintain the majority in both Chambers thanks to the support of the rest of the parties that are part of the heterogeneous government alliance, he has already said on several occasions that he is not willing to continue in power without the M5E. This political force began the legislature in 2018 as the largest in Parliament, but has suffered enormous wear and tear over these years, in which it has participated in three different governments and has experienced numerous defections and internal fights. The last one took place three weeks ago and caused the split of some 60 parliamentarians led by the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, who declared himself a “draghista” and is willing to continue supporting the Executive.
Uncertainty about what may happen with the political situation in Italy is maximum, as reflected by the latest economic indicators. The Milan Stock Exchange lost nearly 2% by mid-morning, behaving as well as the worst of the European stock markets, while the risk premium climbed 14 basis points compared to its closing level the previous day, thus making the bonds of ten-year Italian public debt will be paid with an interest of 3.26%. For investors, Draghi has always been a guarantee in a country, Italy, which has historically lacked stability due to the great ability of its political class to put its partisan concerns above national interests. In fact, the government of the former president of the ECB was born a year and a half ago with strong international support, considering that it was the best option to lead the Italians out of the pandemic and in the management of the millionaire European funds.
Although during the morning of this Thursday it was not ruled out that an agreement could be reached so that the M5E would remain, in one way or another, within the alliance of parties that supports the Executive, various analysts were betting on the opening of a political crisis with various possible scenarios. If it is confirmed that the senators led by Conte turn their backs on Draghi, it will be up to him to meet with the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, with whom he already met last Monday, and study with him the possible solutions to this setback . These range from the holding of early elections, as requested by the opposition, led by the far-right Brothers of Italy party, to the calling of a new motion in Parliament to verify the real support that Draghi has. It is something that is demanded by various political forces that are part of the alliance, such as Forza Italia, the Democratic Party and the League. Another possibility would be for the government to continue with a different prime minister than the former ECB president, although this is considered an unlikely option.
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