Italy after Draghi

Mario Draghi’s tenure as Italian prime minister could be ending. Draghi would leave Italy stronger than he found it, but it will be up to his successors not to squander his legacy.

 
Mario Draghi provided Italy with stability at a crucial time, boosted the country’s international influence and put together a €190 billion plan for using the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund. But his government of national unity now hangs by a thread. Draghi offered his resignation after one of the parties making up the government coalition, the Five Star Movement (5S), refused to back a law on measures to assist lower-income Italians in dealing with the higher cost of living, arguing that it did not go far enough. But the law was approved anyway, and Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella rejected Draghi’s resignation, because the government had not lost a vote of confidence.

Draghi’s future will be determined on Wednesday, when he will report to parliament and gauge whether he has enough support to continue as prime minister. The political parties making up his coalition, which has governed Italy since February 2021, face varying incentives. The centre-left Democratic Party is Draghi’s staunchest backer: elections now would mean losing power, as polls suggest that the most likely outcome would be the victory of a coalition of right-wing parties. The same is generally true of the smaller centrist and centre-left parties that support Draghi. The 5S is torn: it is polling very badly and fears early elections, yet quitting the government now seems to many in the party as the best way to regain votes.

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Πηγή:cer.eu