By Silvia Marchetti
ROME (MaceNews) – Italy’s premier Mario Draghi lost the support of his ruling coalition on Wednesday during a key vote of confidence at the Senate and is expected to resign, paving the way to an early vote and to months of paralysis.
Even though Draghi did win the vote of confidence with just 95 votes, his three biggest allies – the 5 Star Movement, the center-right populist League party and Forza Italia group – did not take part in the vote, thereby withdrawing their support. They either walked out of the chamber or declined to express their decision, but called for a ‘renewed cabinet’ still led by Draghi and without the 5 Stars – a firm request the premier could never have accepted.
While it was largely expected that the 5 Stars would cause trouble, given it was the one to start the crisis questioning Draghi’s leadership, the center-right’s move was totally unpredictable and came last-minute in the twist of events during the debate at the Senate.
Draghi is expected to meet with head of State Sergio Mattarella to officially resign on Thursday, after he will have attended the debate and following vote of confidence at the Lower House. Government sources explain he intends to ‘close the circle’ and act per parliament procedures (listen to both branches of parliament) before stepping down.
Draghi’s resignation is set to trigger a 2-month paralysis for Italy as the country heads towards an early vote, likely to be held on September 25 or October 2.
Earlier in the morning Draghi had warned the Senate of the risks Italy faced if the government lost support from parliament, citing COVID resurgence challenges, the European Union direct aid which could be lost if not speedily invested, key reforms to be cleared, alongside the next budget plan and new measures against soaring energy costs.
If things go south “our public debt costs will rise”, he added. In previous days, rating agencies had warned that a government collapse would make Italy’s public finances less sustainable.
Appealing to the sense of duty of all parties, Draghi had called for a “new pact” to keep ruling without “threats and political attacks”.
“Parties and parliamentarians, are you willing to rebuild this pact, to reaffirm your commitment to this government that is now weaker?”, he asked the senators.
Last week the 5 Stars Movement did not back Draghi’s pro-growth decree against rising energy prices, opening a rift. Draghi wanted to step down but Mattarella asked him to stay on and seek a solution in parliament.
The last thing Super Mario expected was to be backstabbed by more allies.
Contact this reporter: silvia@macenews.com
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