Political Rome bickered for five days after Mario Draghi’s offer to resign. The head of government could now continue, if only to prevent worse.
Rome – In Italy, Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government will be decided today after his failed offer to resign. The non-party economist is expected in the smaller of the two parliamentary chambers, the Senate, in the morning and is supposed to report on the political situation there. Due to the general debate lasting several hours afterwards, the expected vote of confidence should not begin until late in the evening. It is also unclear whether Draghi wants to continue as head of government at all.
If the 74-year-old sticks to his resignation, head of state Sergio Mattarella could dissolve the chambers of parliament and thus initiate early elections. But it would also be possible for the former head of the European Central Bank to continue to govern with the expressed confidence. What will be decisive is what Draghi says in his speech. After the Senate, he also has to go to the larger Chamber of Deputies, which is not expected until Thursday.
There was a lack of trust
The trigger for the crisis was the lack of confidence in Draghi’s cabinet by the five-star movement, which was part of the governing body, when the Senate voted on a multi-billion dollar aid package. Although his government received the necessary majority even without the star votes, according to Draghi the “pact of trust” was broken. He then offered his resignation, but Mattarella refused and sent him to Parliament to justify himself. The Five Star Movement, shaken by the low in the polls and leaving the party, then demanded that Draghi respond to their political demands. According to the media, another split is now threatening in the populist party of the lawyer Giuseppe Conte.
It could be difficult for Draghi to reunite the old alliance of parties from left to right. He made participation by the Five Stars a condition of any government under him to the very end. She would be a counterweight in the cabinet to the otherwise strong populist Lega party led by right-wing politician Matteo Salvini. However, he and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia do not want to continue governing with Conte.
Five Star Movement has key to outcome
How the anti-establishment party will behave in the vote today is unclear. Social Democrat leader Enrico Letta called on the movement to support the government. Observers see a crucial possibility in the split: Some of the star politicians could, contrary to any party line not to vote, still vote for Draghi. That way he would have the requisite Five Star backing – and the centre-right could see them as breakaways rather than Star members.
In an open letter, more than 1,000 mayors recently spoke out in favor of continuing the government of the native Roman, as did business representatives and associations. If an early election were to be held, Italy would hardly be able to act politically for weeks. Important reforms are pending, which the country with almost 60 million inhabitants must implement in order to receive important EU aid from Brussels. In addition, there is the budget planning, which traditionally leads to a lot of disputes in Italy and is sometimes only passed shortly before the end. dpa
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