He left NATO’s summit on Wednesday to address tensions in his coalition executive and to prepare for a crucial cabinet meeting to be held this Thursday.
Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi left NATO’s Madrid summit last night – the most crucial for the Alliance since the end of the Cold War – to address the internal tensions of his unity administration. The umpteenth governmental crisis he has faced since he took command of the country in February 2021.
The spark on this occasion was an interview given by an adviser to the 5 Star Movement (M5E), a party that is part of the governing coalition. Domenico De Masi assured that Draghi had asked the founder of the anti-establishment party, comedian Beppe Grillo, to head Conte, his predecessor as prime minister. Although the Chief Executive’s residence Chigi Palace was quick to deny this information, Conte himself harshly criticized it. “I think it is serious that a technical prime minister interferes in the life of the political forces that also support the government. I am stunned by the request to remove me,” he said on Wednesday.
Officially, Draghi’s withdrawal from the NATO summit is premature due to his having to prepare for the Council of Ministers to be held this Thursday. A meeting that seems important because, among other things, energy and measures are discussed so that families and companies can cope with the high costs, at a time of unstoppable price increases. But there is no doubt that the frictions between the members of the Executive will mark the session.
Relations between Conte and Draghi have been tense for months and have intensified in recent weeks over disagreements over the war in Ukraine. The M5E opposes sending weapons to Kiev, while Draghi is one of the European leaders most involved in the conflict. Without going further, he accompanied French President Emmanuel Macron and German Olaf Scholz on a train trip two weeks ago to meet Ukrainian President Volodímir Zelensky.
It is not the first time that a crisis has threatened the coalition government formed by the Five Star Movement; Matteo Salvini’s League; the leftist Free and Equal; the Democratic Party, center-left; Forza Italia, led by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi; and independent ministers. In fact, tensions in the unity government led by the former president of the European Central Bank have been constant.
For example, both the M5E and the League have been tense in recent weeks, especially after their poor results in the recent municipal elections. In Salvini’s case, his leadership has collapsed in favor of the far-right Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy, the only major party outside the government and who is now the leading force in Italy.
The M5E itself has experienced its own internal crisis: last week Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio left the formation causing a split.
Source: La Verdad
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