By Silvia Marchetti
ROME (MaceNews) – The “forced” reappointment of Sergio Mattarella as Italy’s head of state despite his initial unavailability for a second term marks a further weakening of the government and its reformatory push as parties come to terms with their vulnerabilities, according to Italian party sources.
“Party talks have failed in striking a convergence on the name of a high-standing successor, opting for Mattarella was the only way out to salvage this fragile ruling coalition”, said an official.
Mattarella was appointed on Sunday with an absolute majority in parliament after one of Italy’s longest voting procedures in its republican history, which lasted nearly one whole week with parties failing to agree on the successor to the presidential palace for another seven years term.
Despite that Mattarella had repeatedly stated that he was not available for a second term, sources noted that at the end his candidature was the only way to overcome a parliamentary impasse that had raised political instability and triggered a spike in the spread between German and Italian bonds.
“It was the supreme solution to keeping afloat this wobbly ruling coalition, which is kept together solely by the leadership of two men who are saving the country, ensuring policy continuation and Italy’s credibility on the global stage: Mattarella and Premier Mario Draghi”, said another source.
Ahead of the vote chances were rising that Draghi could have replaced Mattarella, but such “institutional promotion” would have led to a rift between governing allies and to the risk of an early vote.
“Everyone understood that keeping Draghi at his place, at the helm of the cabinet, was the gluing factor necessary to rescue the government and give it strength enough to pull through till next year, when the general election will take place”, added the source.
Officials noted that Italy’s future political outlook is now even more uncertain. If on one hand the Mattarella-Draghi pair ensures Italy’s political continuity, relations between ruling parties have further worsened and ‘underground’ cracks are now out in the open.
The fact that allies couldn’t agree on a presidential successor proves they won’t be able to agree on other key pro-growth measures and structural reforms Italy has committed to in 2022-2023.
“This year will be crucial in convincing Europe that we have the means, and political strength, to efficiently deploy a large sum of direct pandemic aid for investments, as so far we’ve only received a small slice of the total EUR 200 billion Italy is entitled to. And the speediness of such investments largely depends on wide agreements between allies”, said an official.
European institutions and markets have been holding their breath as parliament elected the next head of state, with Milan’s stock exchange finally blowing off steam Monday morning following the ‘reassuring’ vote.
But this moment of tranquility will be temporary.
Several officials warned that the impossibility of ruling parties, which hold a majority in parliament, to jointly identify a potential successor to Mattarella only proves how rough next year’s general vote is bound to be.
“We don’t know what Draghi’s future will be after this government, and while Mattarella will be helpful in guiding the post-vote formation of the next cabinet, the 2023 elections are likely to deliver a pulverized parliament where no single party has the required majority to rule”, said a source.
The center-right coalition between Brothers of Italy, the League and Forza Italia (Silvio Berlusconi’s Go Italy group) which has been recently leading the polls and could gain a ruling majority in 2023, is no longer a certainty following an internal row over the presidential vote.
“So we’ll likely be back to square one, like we were last February when Draghi was summoned by Mattarella to lead a pandemic emergency cabinet. Mattarella will still be here in 2023 but what about Draghi, and most important of all, how many other credible ‘Draghi-like’ premier candidates will Italy have?”.
Contact this reporter: silvia@macenews.com
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