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Stay or go? Italy’s parliament to vote on PM Draghi’s fate

Italian Prime Minister Mario Dragh faced a crucial confidence vote on Wednesday night to end a political crisis that could trigger early elections.

Stay or go? Italy's parliament to vote on PM Draghi's fate
Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi after addressing the Senate on July 20th in a last attempt to resolve the government crisis. Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP

Italy waited on Wednesday to hear whether elections loomed, as the country’s fractious parties furiously debated whether to support Draghi and his appeal for a new “pact of trust”.

Now was not the time for uncertainty within the eurozone’s third largest economy, amid domestic and geopolitical challenges from a struggling economy to the Ukraine war, Draghi earlier told the Senate.

READ ALSO: What does Italy’s latest political crisis mean for the economy?

The premier threw the onus on parties across the political spectrum to put aside their differences and join together as it had in February 2021 when Draghi took the helm of a newly formed unity government to address Italy’s myriad challenges, from coronavirus to the economy.

“The only way forward if we want to stay together is to rebuild afresh this (government) pact with courage, selflessness, credibility,” Draghi told the Senate.

“Are you ready? … You don’t owe this answer to me, but to all Italians”.

The stern speech by a usually softly-spoken Draghi suggested that the former leader of the European Central Bank was prepared to stay – but on one condition: if the wildly disparate parties pledge anew to a common agenda.

READ ALSO: ‘We need stability’: Calls grow for Italy’s Draghi to stay on as PM

The crisis was sparked by the refusal by the Five Star Movement, a coalition member, to opt out of a confidence vote.

Parliamentarians will now debate for over five hours, setting out their positions. Draghi will then respond, before a vote later Wednesday.

If he survives all that, the process will be repeated in the lower house on Thursday.

Otherwise, Italy’s president could dissolve parliament and call elections for September or October.

After Draghi attempted to resign from his post on Thursday, the president urged him to go to parliament to find out whether his fractured coalition can be saved – or if snap elections are unavoidable.

There’s a lot at stake: a government collapse at a time of soaring inflation could delay the budget, threaten EU post-pandemic recovery funds and send jittery markets into a tailspin.

READ ALSO: What’s changing under Italy’s post-pandemic recovery plan

Polls suggest most Italians want Draghi, 74, to stay at the helm of the eurozone’s third-largest economy until the scheduled general election in May next year.

Parties on the centre-left have said they will support Draghi, but a question mark remains over right-leaning Forza Italia and the League, which have ruled out staying in government with Five Star.

“We are in the middle of an Italian-style political crisis, so predictions change utterly from one second to the next,” Giovanni Orsina, head of the Luiss School of Government in Rome, told AFP.

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TERRORISM

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy was to increase surveillance in busy areas ahead of the Easter holidays and following the bombing of a Moscow concert hall, ministers agreed on Monday.

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy’s national committee for public security, chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, on Monday said anti-terrorism monitoring in Italy must be strengthened ahead of the Easter holidays, with more surveillance to be carried out at popular tourist spots and at “sensitive sites”.

The committee agreed on “the importance of continuing monitoring activity, including online, by police and intelligence forces for the identification of possible risk situations” in Italy, reported news agency Ansa.

The security meeting was convened following the terrorist attack in Moscow on Friday where armed men opened fire and set the building ablaze, killing at least 133 people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had stressed to the public on Sunday that Italy faced “no concrete risk” and said the country’s security and law enforcement services were “always on the alert to prevent any attack.”

“During the Easter holidays you will need to be very careful. We will always do the utmost to ensure the safety of citizens and tourists,” Tajani said, speaking on national broadcaster Rai’s current affairs show Restart.

READ ALSO: Terror alerts: Should I be worried about travelling to Italy?

The fight against terrorism “has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine,” the minister continued.

“We support Ukraine” as an invaded country in which international law has been violated, he said, “but as the Italian government we have expressed our condemnation of the attack [in Moscow] and closeness to the families of the victims and the survivors”.

Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano said on the same programme that the main terrorist threat Italy faced at the moment was mainly from “lone wolves” and “not so much from organised groups.”

“I believe that a group like the one that acted in the Moscow attack, which must have been trained and had logistical support, would be intercepted sooner in Italy,” he said.

“The most worrying threat” in Italy was online recruitment, he said, noting that propaganda was closely monitored.

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