ANSA – Brazil’s Mario Draghi resigns as Italian Prime Minister after losing support

Having lost his support in the parliament, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned for the second time in a week, this time permanently.

The 74-year-old economist, who has been in power since February 2021, met with President Sergio Mattarella this Thursday (21) to inform him of his decision.

“The President this morning, after announcing yesterday’s vote in the Senate, received Professor Mario Draghi, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, who reiterated his resignation and the government of which he heads,” said the Secretary-General. Ugo Zampetti from the Presidency.

Draghi will remain in the post until his successor is determined, but will only deal with current events. In the afternoon, Mattarella will receive Speakers of the House of Representatives Roberto Fico and Senate Elisabetta Casellati to advise on their next steps.

The parties expect the head of state to dissolve Parliament and call early elections later this year – the natural end of the current legislature will be in March 2023.

Shortly before meeting with Mattarella, Draghi still gave a short speech in the House of Representatives, showing a rare emotion in his 17-month government.

The prime minister, who is also the former head of the European Central Bank, joked after the long applause of the parliamentarians, “Sometimes even central bankers use their hearts. Thank you for this and for all the work done during this period.”

Draghi had already tried to resign last Thursday (14) after his anti-establishment 5 Star Movement (M5S) party boycotted a vote of confidence on a government project in the Senate.

On this occasion, however, Mattarella refused to resign and asked the prime minister to return to Parliament to see if it would be possible to continue to rule.

Speaking to the Senate last Wednesday (20), the economist defended his administration, outlined priorities for the future, and called for the rebuilding of the “deal of trust” that made possible the birth of a national unity coalition, but it wasn’t enough.

The prime minister chose to present a vote of confidence, which said centrist senator Pier Ferdinando Casini only approved the Upper House’s speech, but most of the ruling base decided not to attend the session.

Matteo Salvini’s ultranationalist Liga and Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative Forza Italia (FI) wanted a clear sign of a break with the M5S. The anti-system movement, on the other hand, openly accused Draghi of being anti-party and left only the legends of the centre-left and petty centrists with the government.

Enrico Letta, former prime minister of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), said, “We are not like the others, whoever takes responsibility for harming the country will pay the consequences at the ballot box.” The parliament has been against the country, but not all, we have shown that we look after the interests of the country and the electorate will reward it,” he said.

national unity

Draghi took power in February 2021, when he was called upon by Mattarella to guide a broad coalition and avoid holding early elections amid the pandemic.

With no previous experience in politics, the economist’s main goals were to accelerate the vaccine campaign against Covid-19 and to prepare the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), a project that would use around 200 billion euros for Italy. The European Union for the post-pandemic.

These two goals were achieved, but Draghi was expected to rule until the end of the current legislature in the first half of 2023, providing stability to Italy in a time of deep economic and geopolitical tensions.

With the worst of the epidemic behind him and the elections approaching, the prime minister became the target of friendly fire at the allied base, especially by the M5S and the League, who had a hard time keeping up with their populist rhetoric while in government. former central banker.

The result of this was reflected in the surveys. Winner of the 2018 election, with 32% of the vote, the anti-system movement has had several splits over the past four years and is now only fourth with around 10% of voters’ preference.

On the other hand, the League, which dominates the conservative camp during the current legislative period, appears in polls behind the far-right Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, which was the only major force to oppose Draghi before the political crisis.

Next steps

The Italian Constitution stipulates that legislative elections take place within 70 days of the dissolution of Parliament; That would be late September or early October if Mattarella finishes the legislature this month.

In this case, a new government would, at most, take office between late October and early November, when the 2023 Budget Bill had to be submitted to Parliament. Italy has never held legislative elections in the second half of the year since it became a republic after the Second World War.

There’s also the possibility that no political camp will win a clear majority, which could prolong negotiations and leave the country without a fully-powered government – ​​in 2018 it took three months for Giuseppe Conte to be sworn in as prime minister.

In this way, Italy will risk starting the next year without a budget, and will be weakened on the international stage by the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as rising fuel and electricity prices. food crisis.

Also, the political crisis risks transfers from the EU to the PNRR, which envisages investments of 222.1 billion euros by 2026 to stimulate the economy, 191.5 billion of which is from European funds.

The Draghi government has already met the targets of 45 initiatives, a necessary step to receive a transfer of 24 billion euros from the European Union. However, the country will need to submit the results of another 55 projects by the end of the year to achieve a new tranche.