The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi di Maio, breaks up the largest party in Parliament and sows instability in the coalition that supports the Draghi government
The Italian government led by Mario Draghi trembles before the crisis in the 5 Star Movement (M5E), the main party of those that make up the coalition that supports it. After weeks of internal fights, the tension erupted this Tuesday with the birth of a split led by Luigi di Maio, Minister of Foreign Affairs and former political head of the ‘anti-caste’ formation, the largest in Parliament but which is in free fall in the surveys at the national level and that reaped a dismal result in the last municipal elections.
Asked if he was worried about the split, Draghi first replied: “We’ll see, we’ll see.” At the end of the parliamentary session in which it was approved to maintain arms support for Ukraine, the journalists asked him the same question again and he answered with a laconic “no”. In his appearance in the Senate, he stressed in any case that “at this time, when the country is involved in a war”, it is “essential” that “unity” be maintained in Italy.
Di Maio got into a fight with the current president of the M5E, former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, over the shipment of weapons to Ukraine and due to attempts to change the internal rule that prohibits members of this political force from holding office. public for more than two legislatures. About fifty deputies and senators are expected to follow Di Maio in the split, which will give rise to a new parliamentary group that could be called ‘Together for the future’. Very critical of Conte for the latest electoral blows and for trying to put an end to support for kyiv, Di Maio and his new group will surely maintain the support of Draghi’s Cabinet.
election debacle
Instead, it is unknown how the leader of the M5E will react to this fracture, since he has been showing his discomfort with the positions of the Executive for weeks. “Many citizens have asked me to leave the Government. Our electorate is suffering and we cannot turn our backs on it. Let no one tell us to be silent, ”Conte warned a few days ago after the debacle in the municipal elections, which have confirmed the almost disappearance of the party in some of the main cities. The former prime minister then guaranteed that the M5E would be “responsible”, for which he would continue to support the Executive. This Tuesday he maintained his position by supporting Draghi in his appearance in the Senate on sending weapons to Ukraine.
Being part of the three coalitions that have succeeded each other in this legislature – the first two led by Conte and the current one by Draghi – have taken their toll on this political force among its voters, whom it initially seduced with an ‘anti-caste’ speech and populist, but who have abandoned it en masse due to the deep contradictions shown during the exercise of power. It is enough to think that although the founder of the M5E, the comedian Beppe Grillo, initially refused to reach alliances with other parties, because they were part of “the system” and constituted “a cultural problem”, during this legislature the movement has ended up forming coalitions with almost all political acronyms, from the radical left to the extreme right.
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