After the tumultuous re-election of President Sergio Mattarella, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi is trying energetically to get the reform process going again. He only has a short window of opportunity to do so.
Italy’s head of government no longer wants to be slowed down by the coalition partners.
A 21-gun salute from the Gianicolo, one of Rome’s green hills, will announce on Thursday afternoon: Sergio Mattarella is back in the Quirinal Palace, the seat of the President. This is good news for most Italians. They are happy about the stability at the top of the state.
The inauguration ceremony on Thursday marks the end of a turbulent phase in Italian politics. The Roman political merry-go-round spun for weeks, there were tactics, arguments, polemics – not a particularly edifying sight in view of the numerous problems that the country should actually address. The 80-year-old Mattarella, who actually wanted to retire from politics, now not only stands for calm and prudence, but also for the continuation of the previous, successful cooperation with Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
The anti-politician’s trump card
For his part, he doesn’t give the impression that he’s being overly impressed by the quarrels between the parties. On the contrary: the head of government is emphatically businesslike. Since the beginning of the week he has twice summoned his ministers to government meetings in the Palazzo Chigi, in between he telephoned Vladimir Putin to discuss the Ukraine crisis and to obtain guarantees for the supply of Russian gas. It seems Draghi wants to prove to the audience that he remains fully operational and willing to continue phase two of the «Draghismo» to herald how the media here describe his sober and purposeful way of governing.
Most recently there had been doubts as to whether the former President of the European Central Bank was still able to continue government business vigorously. Because Draghi was – albeit unspoken – himself a candidate for the office of President, but had no chance. Some observers interpreted this as a humiliation and flagrant weakening of the head of government.
On the other hand, it seems more plausible that Draghi emerges stronger from the march – at least for the moment. In the course of the presidential elections, the leaders of the parties publicly proved incapable of constructively politicizing. The right camp, the “Centrodestra” around Lega boss Matteo Salvini, has literally imploded. But shreds are also flying on the left and especially at the Cinque Stelle. Everything has become unpredictable, no one trusts the other. With a view to next year’s elections, the parties and political camps will first have to reinvent themselves. In contrast, Draghi appears in an all the brighter light. He remains the anti-politician, so to speak.
This gives him new freedoms that he must use quickly. If in doubt, he could ask a vote of confidence, as he did last year, and thus discipline the government camp and get it on course. Nobody, except perhaps the far-right politician Giorgia Meloni from the Fratelli d’Italia, is currently interested in new elections.
Merciless tact
But Draghi’s time is short. On the one hand, because no one knows whether the quarrels between the parties might one day have a destabilizing effect on his government. On the other hand, because especially the big reform and construction plan and the associated EU billions Italy set a hard beat. By June 30, 2022, the ministries must have achieved 45 specific reform goals in order for the second tranche of European support funds of 24.1 billion euros to be granted. Another 55 targets must be achieved by the end of December for the release of the third installment (EUR 21.8 billion). This pace will continue until mid-2023. Basically, it is a total renovation of the Italian state.
Draghi knows that this path is very demanding. That’s why on Monday he gave his ministers 48 hours to show him where they stand with the implementation of the reform steps taken so far. “Super Mario” obviously wants to know it again.