Issued on: 20/07/2022 – 11:59
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday that the only way out of a political crisis that threatens the country’s stability is a new government pact based on “courage, selflessness, credibility”.
The prime minister placed the responsibility on parties across the political spectrum to put aside differences and work together as in February 2021, when Draghi took the helm of a newly formed unity government to tackle Italy’s myriad challenges, from coronavirus to the economy. to grab.
“The only way forward if we want to stick together is to rebuild this (government) pact with courage, selflessness and credibility,” Draghi told the Senate.
“Are you ready? … You owe this answer not to me, but to all Italians”.
The stern speech by a generally mild-mannered Draghi suggested the former European Central Bank leader was willing to stay — but on one condition: if the wildly divergent parties once again pledge a common agenda.
The crisis was fueled by the refusal of the Five Star Movement, a coalition member, to waive a confidence vote.
MEPs will now spend more than five hours debating and expressing their views. Draghi will then respond, for a vote later Wednesday.
The stakes are high: a government collapse could exacerbate social problems at a time of rampant inflation, slow the budget, threaten the EU’s post-pandemic recovery funds and send twitchy markets into a tailspin.
Polls show that most Italians want Draghi, 74, to remain at the helm of the eurozone’s third-largest economy until the scheduled general election next May.
Draghi noted on Wednesday that as the unelected leader, he needs the broadest possible consensus to tackle Italy’s most pressing problems: from a cost of living crisis and recession concerns to the rollout of key reforms and the war in Ukraine.
For a long time, he said, his coalition was able to “put aside the divisions and come together … for swift and effective action, in the interest of all citizens”.
But “the desire to move forward together gradually diminished, and with it the ability to act effectively, with ‘timeliness’, in the interest of the country”.
“Last compromise?”
Center-left parties have said they will support Draghi, but a question mark remains over right-wing Forza Italia and the League, which have ruled out staying in government with Five Star.
“We are in the middle of an Italian political crisis, so predictions change from one second to the next,” Giovanni Orsina, head of the Luiss School of Government in Rome, told AFP.
Five-star head Giuseppe Conte has demanded that Draghi adopt the movement’s priorities, from minimum wages to tax cuts for energy-efficient home upgrades — something he probably won’t do.
The populist party could disintegrate before the vote, with Forza Italia and the League possibly agreeing to work with the breakaway element.
Once the largest party in parliament, the Five Star Movement has seen dozens of defections as it shifted to its radical, anti-establishment side in an effort to reverse plummeting support in the polls.
According to news agency AGI, at least 15 more MPs would resign if Five Star voted against Draghi.
“A final compromise cannot be completely ruled out,” Lorenzo Codogno, former chief economist at the Italian Treasury, said in a note.
‘Greater political uncertainty’
But rating agency Fitch warned that the political crisis is “initiating greater political uncertainty even if snap elections are avoided”, with “structural reforms and fiscal consolidation likely to become more challenging”.
Two-thirds of Italians think Draghi should stay, according to a Euromedia poll published Tuesday. Nearly 2,000 mayors have signed a petition calling on him to remain prime minister.
Hundreds of people took part in pro-Draghi sit-ins on Monday, while Spanish President Pedro Sanchez wrote an op-ed in Politico on Tuesday titled “Europe needs leaders like Mario Draghi”.
Anxious investors are also watching closely. Wednesday’s vote comes a day before the European Central Bank unveils a tool to correct bond market stress for indebted euro-zone members.
The tool is intended for countries like Italy, but as Enrico Letta, head of the center-left Democratic Party (PD) said on Tuesday, “If we don’t unite, it will be harder to ask others to save us”.
(AFP)