Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
WASHINGTON, 22nd July. According to media reports, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned on Thursday after key coalition allies boycotted a confidence vote, signaled an early election and a renewed period of uncertainty for Italy and Europe at a critical time.
The president’s office said that Draghi gave his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday morning meeting at the Quirinale Palace.
Mattarella rejected a similar resignation offer from the premier last week, “took note” of the new one and asked Draghi’s government to remain on in a caretaker fashion, the president’s office added.
Draghi’s government of national unity imploded Wednesday after members of his coalition of right, left and populists rebuffed his appeal to band back together to finish the Italian Parliament’s term and ensure implementation of a European Union-funded pandemic recovery program.
The center-right Forza Italia and League parties and the populist 5-Star Movement boycotted a confidence vote in the Senate, a clear sign they were done as partners in the former European Central Bank chief’s 17-month government.
Draghi told the lower Chamber of Deputies on Thursday morning before meeting Mattarella, “Thank you for all the work done together in this period,” moved by the applause he received there, he repeated a quip that even central bank chiefs have hearts.
Italian newspapers were united in their outrage at the outcome, given Italy is dealing with soaring inflation and energy costs, Russia’s war against Ukraine and outstanding reforms needed to clinch the remainder of the EU’s 200 billion Euros in recovery funds.
“Shame,” headlined La Stampa on the front page. “Italy Betrayed,” said La Repubblica. “Farewell to Draghi’s Government,” said Corriere della Sera.
Mattarella tapped Draghi – who earned the nickname “Super Mario” during his European Central Bank tenure for his “whatever it takes” rescue of the euro to be Italy’s premier last year.
He and his unity government were charged with pulling the country out of the pandemic and laid the groundwork to make use of the EU’s recovery funds.
The 5-Stars, the biggest vote-getter in the 2018 national election, had stated that their priorities of a basic income and minimum salary, among other agenda items, were being ignored.
The movement opposed Italy’s military aid to Ukraine. The 5-Stars boycotted a confidence vote tied to a bill aimed at helping Italians endure a cost-of-living crisis, prompting Draghi’s first offer to resign.
Mattarella rejected the offer and asked Draghi to return to Parliament to brief lawmakers on the situation.
He did that on Wednesday, appealed to party leaders to listen to the calls for unity from ordinary Italians who signed petitions asking him to stay on.
“You don’t have to give the answer to me. You have to give it to all Italians,” he told lawmakers.
Draghi’s second resignation, the unraveling of his governing coalition suggested Mattarella could dissolve Parliament after a period of consultations, pave the way for an early election as soon as late September or early October. The legislature’s current five-year term is due to expire in 2023.
Mattarella planned o meet with the presidents of the upper and lower chambers of Parliament later Thursday, his office said. Such consultations usually precede a public statement from Mattarella about his intentions.
Opinion polls have indicated neck-to-neck percentages for the center-left Democratic Party and the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, which had remained in the opposition to Draghi’s coalition.
Democrat leader Enrico Letta said Parliament had betrayed Italy and urged Italians to respond at the polls. “Let Italians show at the ballot that they are smarter than their representatives,” he tweeted.
The Brothers of Italy has long been allied with the center-right Forza Italia of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi and the League of Matteo Salvini, suggested that a center-right alliance would likely prevail in any election and propel Brothers’ leader Giorgia Meloni to become Italy’s first female premier.
Meloni has been getting attention for an early election since before the crisis erupted, was triumphant.
“The will of the people is expressed in one way: by voting. Let’s give hope and strength back to Italy,” she said.
Some commentators noted that Draghi’s government has been among Europe’s strongest supporters of Ukraine against Russia, collapsed in large part thanks to political leaders who previously had ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Berlusconi has vacationed with Putin and considered him a friend; Salvini opposed EU sanctions against Russia after its 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, and 5-Star leader Giuseppe Conte opposed Italian military aid to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invasion.
The 5-Star senators boycotted last week’s vote, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio accused Conte of giving Putin a gift by “serving Draghi’s head on a silver platter.”
Italian energy giant ENI reported that Russia’s Gazprom was increasing its daily gas deliveries to Italy Thursday, to 36 million cubic meters compared to 21 million cubic meters in recent days.
Draghi, a prominent economist unaffiliated with any political party, became prime minister in February 2021, leading a cabinet of ministers from across the country’s vast political spectrum.
He’s the fifth prime minister to lead the country in eight years, after the resignation of Giuseppe Conte in early 2021 over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He won the moniker “Super Mario” for saving the euro during Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.
Draghi worked closely with finance minister Daniele Franco to prepare a reforms plan for Italy that will allow it to obtain a 209-billion euro package from the European Covid-19 recovery fund.
Draghi met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on a visit to underline his support, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, despite a growing backlash in Italy over sanctions and aid to Ukraine.
Draghi warned the Senate that turmoil in Italian politics could leave an opening for Russia. “We need to block Russian interference in our politics and society,” he said.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio believes that Draghi’s political enemies have created an opportunity for Russia, telling Politico last week: “The Russians are right now celebrating having made another Western government fall.”
He added, “Now I doubt we can send arms [to Ukraine]. It is one of the many serious problems.”
Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League Party who has made many trips to Moscow, posted a selfie of himself wearing a t-shirt adorned with Putin’s face from the city’s Red Square prior to the invasion.
Putin ally Silvio Berlusconi, who sits in the center-right coalition, could rattle the Western European alliance.
The annual inflation in the European Union jumped to 9.6% in June. It reached 8.6% for the 19 countries that use the euro.
The wildfires that have swept across Spain and France could put a dampener on economic activity.
Italians facing an early election, investors fear that right-wing factions in the country could gain increased support at the ballot box, raising questions about EU cohesion at an important juncture.
Italy’s center-right is led by Euroskeptics including the League’s Salvini and the Brother of Italy party’s Giorgia Meloni, some parties in the coalition have taken a softer stance on the EU.
Democratic Party is expected to maintain its pro-Europe position, it is not expected to govern.
And the 5-Star Movement is made up of both Euroskeptics and EU supporters is not expected to do well in upcoming elections.
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