By Silvia Marchetti
ROME (MaceNews) – Italy’s 5 Stars Movement is now likely to hold an online vote starting Thursday morning on whether to back Mario Draghi’s government, despite the decision on Tuesday to delay it to when more program details would be known, according to sources.
The timeframe to vote would likely be quite short – a sort of ‘blitz vote’ – to limit the number of participating voters and avoid a potential high abstention rate, or in the worst case scenario, a ‘no’ which could jeopardize the future of Draghi’s cabinet. The voting would take place on the 5 Stars online platform where also the final results would be communicated.
Founder Beppe Comic on Tuesday night asked supporters to be patient and give Draghi time to unveil his ruling program, but following rising tensions within the movement between Draghi supporters and critics, the party believes it might be wiser to hold a quick vote before Draghi is formally appointed by head of state Sergio Mattarella.
The movement has stated it would openly support the former European Central Bank chief in forming a wide ruling majority but many grassroots supporters, who have frequently voted on key party decisions, criticized online the prior voting delay decision.
The sudden change to actually hold the vote shortly comes following two key events. Outgoing premier Giuseppe Conte, loved by most 5 Stars supporters, on Wednesday evening openly endorsed Draghi saying he would vote for him if he could take part in the online voting. Many supporters look to Conte as their potential future leader, and his move could motivate voters towards a ‘yes’ vote.
On Wednesday another 5 Stars online voting campaign over changes to the party’s statute failed to reach the required quorum needed for approval, pushing the leadership to schedule another vote.
Another concern also among other parties involved in political talks is that a delay in the 5 Stars’s vote on Draghi to after his formal appointment as Italy’s next premier could undermine the former ECB’s chief mission to build a stable, longstanding coalition with a shared program.
The final meeting between Draghi and head of state Sergio Mattarella, when the former European Central Bank chief will be reporting back on whether he fully accepts the mandate to form a new cabinet, is yet to be announced.
The 5Stars vote, which will be restricted to a specific amount of voters, will be crucial in determining the future of Draghi’s government. The former ECB chief is currently involved in a second round of talks with trade unions and industrial lobbies and is expected to meet up with Mattarella no sooner than Thursday-Friday.
Party members will be asked to vote on the following question: “Do you agree on that the Movement supports a technical-political government with a super-ministry on ecological transition that defends the main results reached by the Movement, together with other political forces indicated by the head of state?”
5 Stars sources argued that if on one hand it would make more sense to hold the online voting once details of Draghi’s program are known, on the other it might be impossible for Draghi to move on in his task without knowing beforehand what 5 Stars supporters think of him. It would be better therefore to have a voting result on Draghi before his government is appointed.
The 5 Stars have long been facing an internal crisis which risks splitting them apart. In recent days other external members of the party have called for an abstention in the Draghi online voting, while several supporters are against allying with the former ECB president. There’s also a widening gap forming between the grassroots voting base and decisions lately taken by the movement’s leadership, which is putting at stake their ideal of a ‘direct democracy’.
The 5 Stars leadership is available in discussing alliances with Draghi alongside a common strategy to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and secure some EUR200 billion in direct European aid.