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Today the independent economist Mario Draghi will report on the political situation to the Senate. It is also unclear whether Draghi wants to continue as head of government at all.
It’s all about this: After this Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s failed offer to resign makes it unclear whether he wants to continue as head of government at all. The non-party economist is expected in the smaller of the two chambers of parliament, the Senate, on Wednesday morning, where he is expected to report on the political situation. Due to the general debate lasting several hours afterwards, the expected vote of confidence should not begin until late in the evening.
That happened: The trigger for the government crisis was the lack of confidence in Draghi’s cabinet by the Five Star Movement, which was part of the governing body, when the Senate voted on a multi-billion dollar aid package. His government received the necessary majority even without the star votes, but according to Draghi the “pact of trust” was broken. Because he made participation by the Five Stars a condition for a government under him to the end.
He then offered his resignation, but Mattarella refused and sent him to Parliament to justify himself. The Five Star Movement, shaken by the low in the polls and leaving the party, then demanded that Draghi respond to their political demands. According to the media, another split is now threatening in the populist party of the lawyer Giuseppe Conte.
This is to be expected from the Five Star Movement: How the anti-establishment party will behave in the vote on Wednesday is unclear. Social Democrat leader Enrico Letta called on the movement to support the government. Observers see a crucial possibility in the split: Some of the star politicians could, contrary to any party line not to vote, still vote for Draghi. That way he would have the requisite Five Star backing – and the centre-right could see them as breakaways rather than Star members.
This could happen: If the 74-year-old sticks to his resignation, Head of State Sergio Mattarella could dissolve the chambers of parliament and thus initiate early elections. It is also possible that the former head of the European Central Bank will continue to govern with the expressed confidence. What will be decisive is what Draghi says in his speech. After the Senate, he still has to go to the larger Chamber of Deputies, which is not expected until Thursday.