Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has resigned after his ruling coalition collapsed, giving a destabilizing blow to the country and Europe at a time of great economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Draghi presented his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella during a meeting Thursday morning at the Quirinal Palace.
Mattarella, who rejected a similar resignation offer from the prime minister last week, “took note” of the news and called on the Draghi government to remain as interim, the president’s office said.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi greets lawmakers at the end of his speech in Rome’s parliament on Thursday, July 21, 2022. Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s national unity government led to the collapse on Thursday after the coalition’s main allies would boycott a vote of confidence, indicating the likelihood of elections and a renewed period of uncertainty for Italy and Europe at a critical time. (Photo by AP / Andrew Medichini) (AP)
Although the president was able to see if a new parliamentary majority was possible, his office indicated that it would dissolve the Legislature and call early elections.
The crisis could not have come at a worse time for the eurozone’s third largest economy. Like many countries, Italy is facing rising prices for everything from food to domestic services as a result of the invasion of Moscow.
In addition, it is also struggling to implement its EU-funded pandemic recovery program and is suffering from a prolonged drought that threatens crops.
Any instability in Italy could affect the rest of Europe, which is also facing economic problems, and deprive the EU of a respected statesman while seeking to maintain a united front against Russia.
Draghi, who is not a career politician but a former central banker, was taken 17 months ago to navigate the economic recession caused by COVID-19.
But his government of national unity imploded Wednesday after members of his restless coalition of right, left and populists rejected his call to unite to end the natural term of the Italian Parliament.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, background center, delivers his speech in the Parliament of Rome on Thursday, July 21, 2022. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has won a vote of confidence in the Senate, but it seems that three of his allies key coalition boycott the vote. likely to have condemned the government’s prospects for survival. (Photo by AP / Andrew Medichini) (AP)
Instead, the center-right parties Forza Italia and the League and the populist Five Star Movement boycotted a vote of confidence in the Senate, a clear signal that Draghi was over.
“Thank you for all the work done together in this period,” Draghi told the House of Representatives on Thursday morning before going to see Mattarella.
Clearly thrilled by the applause he received there, he repeated a joke that even the heads of central banks have heart.
Named “Super Mario” for helping out of the eurozone debt crisis when he was head of the European Central Bank, Draghi played a similar calming role in Italy in recent months.
His very presence helped reassure the financial markets about the nation’s debt-laden public finances and managed to keep the country on track with economic reforms that the EU conditioned on its pandemic recovery package. 200 billion euros (almost $ 300 billion).
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He was a staunch supporter of Ukraine and became a leading voice in Europe’s response to the invasion of Russia, one of the problems that contributed to its downfall since the Five Stars criticized Italian military aid. for Ukraine.
Domestic concerns also played an important role. The Five Stars, the largest voter in the 2018 national elections, annoyed for months that their priorities of a basic income and a minimum wage, among others, were ignored.
The final drop? A decision to give the mayor of Rome extraordinary powers to manage the capital’s garbage crisis, powers that had been denied to Virginia Raggi of the party when she was mayor.
Although he could not keep his conflicting coalition together, Draghi seemed to still have broad support among the Italian public, many of whom have taken to the streets or signed open letters in recent weeks to beg him to stay.
Garbage at the Trastevere in Rome in September. (Photo by AP / Andrew Medichini) (AP)
Italian newspapers on Thursday were united in their outrage at the surreal result, given the difficult time Italy and Europe are navigating.
“Shame,” headlined La Stampa on the cover. “Italy betrayed,” La Repubblica said.
Nicola Nobile, associate director of Oxford Economics, warned that Draghi’s departure and the possibility that the country would not have a government in full operation for months could aggravate the economic turmoil in Italy, which investors fear has too much debt and that a marked slowdown was already expected. for the second half of the year.
Mattarella had called Draghi to get Italy out of the pandemic last year. But last week, the Five Stars boycotted a vote of confidence linked to a bill aimed at helping Italians bear the cost-of-living crisis, which led Draghi to offer his resignation for the first time.
The Italian president, Sergio Mattarela. (PA)
Mattarella rejected this offer and asked Draghi to return to Parliament to inform lawmakers of the situation. The prime minister did so on Wednesday, calling on party leaders to listen to calls for unity from ordinary Italians.
“You don’t have to give me the answer. You have to give it to all Italians,” he told lawmakers.
While the next steps were unclear, it seemed likely that Mattarella would dissolve Parliament after a period of consultations, paving the way for an election as early as late September or early October. The current five-year term of the Legislature will expire in 2023.
Mattarella was scheduled to meet with the presidents of the upper and lower houses of parliament later Thursday, his office said.
Opinion polls have indicated that the center-left Democratic Party and the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, which had remained in opposition, are side by side.
The Brothers of Italy have long allied with former Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini’s League, suggesting that a center-right alliance would likely prevail in any election and could boost the leader of the Brothers Giorgia Meloni to become the first early woman in Italy.
Some commentators noted that Draghi’s government, which has been one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters in Europe, collapsed in large part thanks to political leaders who previously had ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After five-star senators boycotted last week’s vote, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio accused them of making a gift to Putin.