The former president of the European Central Bank (ECB), economist Mario Draghi, received this Wednesday (3) the mission to form a new government in Italy and asked for unity so that the country can overcome the current crisis .
Thus, Draghi will consult with the parties seeking support. If he gets the approval of most of them, he can form a government and become the new Italian prime minister.
“It’s a difficult time. President [Sergio Mattarella] recalled the dramatic health crisis, with serious consequences on the lives of people, the economy and society, ”he told reporters, after officially receiving the request to form the government.
On Tuesday, Mattarella, the only one empowered to appoint the prime minister and dissolve parliament, called on political forces to support “a high level and strong government”, to face the health emergency and to implement the vast plan financed by the European Union for the reconstruction of Italy.
As the head of the ECB, Draghi has been credited with bringing the eurozone out of the brink of collapse in 2012. He has practically disappeared from the public eye since his term ended in October 2019, but his name has emerged. like a possible prime minister lately. weeks due to political, economic and health unrest in Italy.
Draghi was summoned by the president a week after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called for resignation, who tried to make a political maneuver to stay in power, but failed.
Conte said he had no choice but to leave the post after the small Italia Viva party, led by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, abandoned the government boat by harshly criticizing the administration.
The departure of Renzi’s party left the coalition that kept Conte in power without an absolute majority in the Senate, which in practice would compromise the country’s governance.
So, playing within the rules of parliamentarism, the Prime Minister chose to resign to return to power supported by a new alliance of parties, as he did himself in 2019.
But repeating the feat this time didn’t work. Conte even made efforts to attract independent and central senators into the coalition to fill the void left by Renzi, but to no avail.
Renzi criticizes the way Conte handled the response to the coronavirus pandemic – which has infected 2.5 million people and caused more than 87,000 deaths in Italy – and accuses the prime minister of centralizing decisions on how to spend resources granted by the European Union on the economic recovery plan for the post-pandemic period.
They supported Conte’s retention as prime minister of the Five Star Movement, a party that positions itself as an anti-system, and of the center-left Democratic Party (PD).
Matteo Salvini, leader of ultra-right Liga Norte, hinted at the risk of a split in Italian politics, saying each party would make its own decision on how to react if Mattarella tried to install a new government without new elections.
The populist represents an alliance of right-wing parties, which includes Fortress Italy, of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.