The decision by senators from the Five Star Movement, from Italy’s ruling coalition, to withdraw support for Prime Minister Mario Draghi in a confidence vote sparked a political crisis on Thursday.
Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi informed members of his government this afternoon that he was stepping down from his post. The move comes after a long week of tensions with the Five Star Movement and a Senate vote in which the latter was absent. Draghi will now meet with the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, to inform him of the decision.
The stability of the Italian government went through the Senate of Rome today, where the vote on a decree with support to deal with the price increases has become a survival test for the ruling coalition led by Mario Draghi. In particular, there was concern about what the Five Star Movement (M5E) was going to do, the “anti-caste” party whose leader, Giuseppe Conte, had been flirting for weeks with the idea of ending the alliance that backs the executive of the former president of the European Union. Central Bank (ECB). Finally, what the M5E agreed to last night was fulfilled. Her senators left the Senate during the motion, saying that the 26,000 million euros in aid for families and businesses included in the decree is insufficient and will therefore cause a crisis in the government with unforeseen consequences. The vote had been raised as a vote of no confidence to speed up parliamentary approval.
While Draghi would retain a majority in both chambers thanks to the support of the rest of the parties in the heterogeneous government alliance, he has repeatedly said he does not want to remain in power without the M5E. This political force started the legislature in 2018 as the largest in parliament, but has suffered massive wear and tear over these years, during which it has participated in three different governments and witnessed numerous defections and internal battles. The last took place three weeks ago and caused the split of some 60 MPs led by Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, who declared himself a “draghista” and is prepared to continue to support the executive.
Uncertainty about what could happen to the political situation in Italy is at a maximum, according to the latest economic indicators. The Milan stock exchange lost nearly 2% by mid-morning, beating the worst in European markets, as the risk premium climbed 14 basis points from the previous day’s closing level, which will pay off the 10-year Italian public debt bonds with an interest rate of 3.26%. For investors, Draghi has always been a guarantee in a country, Italy, which has historically been unstable due to the great ability of its political class to put its partisan interests above national interests. In fact, the government of the former president of the ECB was born a year and a half ago with strong international support, as it was the best option to lead the Italians out of the pandemic and in the management of the European millionaire funds.
While on the morning of this Thursday it was not ruled out that an agreement would be reached so that the M5E would somehow be within the alliance of parties that the Executive supports, several analysts were betting on the opening of a political crisis with several possible scenarios. . If it is confirmed that the senators led by Conte Draghi are turning their backs, it will be up to him to meet with the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, with whom he already met last Monday, and with him the to study possible solutions to this setback. These range from holding snap elections, as requested by the opposition, led by Italy’s far-right Brothers, to introducing a new motion in parliament to verify Draghi’s genuine support. It is something that is demanded by several political forces that are part of the alliance, such as Forza Italia, the Democratic Party and the League. Another possibility is that the government continues with a different prime minister than the former ECB president, although this is considered an unlikely option.
Source: La Verdad
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