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UPDATE: Draghi to attempt to form new Italian government

Italian economist Mario Draghi appealed for national unity after he agreed on Wednesday to take on the job of forming and leading a new government.

Published: 3 February 2021 13:21 CET
UPDATE: Draghi to attempt to form new Italian government
Mario Draghi arrives at the presidential palace in Rome for talks with President Mattarella on Wednesday. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

Draghi, former head of the European Central Bank, said Italy is facing a “difficult moment” after being tasked by President Sergio Mattarella with forming a new government.

“I am confident that… unity will emerge and with it the ability to give a responsible and positive answer to the appeal of the President of the Republic”, said Draghi, following a meeting with Mattarella at noon on Wednesday.

PROFILE: Could 'Super Mario' Draghi lead Italy out of its crisis?

Draghi will now try to create a coalition to replace that led by outgoing premier Giuseppe Conte.

The Milan stock market opened 2.3 percent higher on Wednesday following the news Draghi was being considered for the top job.

President Sergio Mattarella called in Draghi for talks after Italy's ruling parties failed to agree on a new government following a split last month that forced Conte to resign.

Draghi, an Italian economist credited with saving the eurozone at the height of the debt crisis in 2012, is expected to try to put together a 'government of national unity' to navigate the still-raging pandemic.

Alongside the ever-mounting death toll, the country's economy shrank 8.9 percent in 2020 – the biggest slump since the end of World War II.

Mattarella has stressed the urgency of creating a stable government and avoiding elections during the pandemic, which hit Italy first among European nations and has been devastating.

Draghi, dubbed “Super Mario”, has long been cited by political watchers as the man to see Italy through the coming months.
 
Lorenzo Castellani, a political expert at Rome's Luiss University, said he believed a Draghi-led government would be highly technocratic.
 
“The government programme will be 99 percent occupied by the pandemic and the recovery fund,” he said, adding that it would likely find support among lawmakers.
 
 
But everything still depends on whether the economist can  secure a majority of support among lawmakers, before submitting to a vote of confidence in parliament.
 
So far the Democratic Party appears on board, as does Renzi, but the Five Star Movement (M5S), the biggest party in parliament once defined by its euroscepticism and anti-“elite” stance, is split.
 
One of the M5S leaders, Vito Crimi, warned: “This type of executive has already been adopted in the past, with extremely negative consequences for Italian citizens.”

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EU

Italy’s Meloni hopes EU ‘understands message’ from voters

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Saturday she hoped the European Union would understand the "message" sent by voters in last weekend's elections, after far-right parties such as hers made gains.

Published: 15 June 2024 17:33 CEST
Italy's Meloni hopes EU 'understands message' from voters

Meloni, head of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, which performed particularly well in the vote, urged the EU to “understand the message that has come from European citizens”.

“Because if we want to draw lessons from the vote that everything was fine, I fear it would be a slightly distorted reading,” she told a press conference at the end of a G7 summit in Puglia.

“European citizens are calling for pragmatism, they are calling for an approach that is much less ideological on several major issues,” she said.

Meloni’s right-wing government coalition has vehemently opposed the European Green Deal and wants a harder stance on migration.

“Citizens vote for a reason. It seems to me that a message has arrived, and it has arrived clearly,” she said.

EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Monday to negotiate the top jobs, including whether European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will get a second term.

Von der Leyen’s centre-right European People’s Party strengthened its grip with the vote, but her reconfirmation is not yet in the bag.

The 65-year-old conservative was in Puglia for the G7 and likely used the summit to put her case to the leaders of France, Germany and Italy.

But Meloni refused to be drawn on whom she is backing.

“We will have a meeting on Monday, we’ll see,” she told journalists.

“We will also see what the evaluations will be on the other top roles,” she said.

Italian political watchers say Meloni is expected to back von der Leyen, but is unlikely to confirm that openly until Rome locks in a deal on commissioner jobs.

“What interests me is that… Italy is recognised for the role it deserves,” she said.

“I will then make my assessments.”

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani indicated that it was unlikely any decision would be made before the French elections on June 30 and July 7.

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