Et was a typical Draghi speech: engaging to friendly in tone, crystal clear and tough as nails. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi spoke for a good half hour in the Senate on Wednesday morning. According to the agenda set by Senate President Maria Elisabetta Casellati for the “Destiny Session”, the 74-year-old head of government could have spoken twice as long to explain the reasons for his resignation offered last Thursday (and immediately rejected by President Sergio Mattarella). And above all to explain whether he will stick to his intention to resign after the actual vote of no confidence by the Five Star Movement last Thursday or whether he is prepared to revise it. But 38 minutes was enough for the former ECB President.
After the dry “Grazie” at the end of the speech, it was clear: Mario Draghi wants to continue the coalition government of “national unity” that has been in office since February 2021. All that is needed is the renewal of the “confidence pact” that made it possible to form the broad coalition 17 months ago, Draghi said. It sounded almost banal: Draghi asked the senators to say the same yes that you said a year and a half ago. And after a long day of tedious debate, the “longest day” of the non-party economist’s political career, the majority of senators effectively said no by abstaining from the vote.
Occasional applause, not from the whole coalition
The reaction to Draghi’s speech had already shown that it would probably end in this definitive no. It was occasionally accompanied by applause, though not all members of the coalition clapped – the Five Star senators did not, nor did all of the right-wing Lega. Occasionally there were also heckling, which also came mainly from the five stars. Senate President Casellati only had to ask the chamber for silence once and call for order.
In his speech, Draghi highlighted the achievements of the coalition over the past 17 months and expressly praised the people’s representatives for their part in this success story. It was possible to emerge from the acute emergency situation of the pandemic and pave the way back to normality – above all thanks to the vaccination campaign, which was pursued with military planning and precision. “I’ve never been so proud to be Italian as in these moments,” said Draghi and continued: “Italy is strong when it knows how to be united.” Applause.
Draghi also mentioned the steps taken to diversify the energy supply, to reform the judiciary and administration and to improve the overall competitiveness of the Italian economy. When Draghi also emphasized the special solidarity of the Italian people and the people’s representatives in the defense of Ukraine and in helping displaced Ukrainians, there were the loudest heckling. Of course, Draghi himself knows that his coalition is as divided as the country as a whole over how soon the war in Ukraine will be brought to an end. In his speech, Draghi unequivocally committed himself to the further armament of Ukraine and reaffirmed his conviction that a just and lasting peace with the Russian aggressor is only possible on the terms of the Ukrainian victims.