"We are ready": Salvini is open to the Draghi government

Saturday, February 06, 2021

"We are ready"
Salvini is open to the Draghi government

In talks with all sides, ex-ECB boss Draghi wants to solicit the support of those involved for an expert government. The right-wing radical Lega of Matteo Salvini has now also made an initial cautious commitment. But one powerful party has so far refused to approve.

In the struggle for a new government for Italy, the chairman of the radical right-wing Lega, Matteo Salvini, has promised his support for an expert government under Mario Draghi. "We are ready," said Salvini after meeting Draghi. "Unlike some others, we don't think we'll get any further if we always say no," added Salvini, referring to the five-star movement, which has so far refused to support Draghi.

A final decision on whether to support Draghi will be made after the second round of talks with the former head of the European Central Bank (ECB) next week, added the former Interior Minister Salvini.

The center-left party PD and the small party Italia Viva (IV) of ex-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi have already promised Draghi their support, as has the right-wing Forza Italia party of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Draghi began talks on the formation of a new government in Rome on Thursday.

The former head of the ECB still lacks the support of the five-star movement. One of the leading M5S politicians, the outgoing Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, recently called for a "political government" and firmly rejected a government made up of technocrats. The five-star movement, which supported the outgoing Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte until the end, provides almost a third of the MPs and senators.

Because of Corona, new elections must be avoided

After the end of his first round of talks with the parties, Draghi now wants to meet with civil society groups such as trade unions on Monday. A second round of talks with the parties will take place at the end of next week.

Conte had announced his resignation last week after the center-left coalition he led broke up in the dispute over the use of the European Union's corona aid funds. IV chairman Renzi had terminated the alliance with the PD and the five-star movement. He accused Conte of wasting billions in funds and called for them to be used more sensibly.

President Sergio Mattarella tasked Draghi with forming a government on Tuesday. He wanted to avoid early elections in view of the corona pandemic, said the president. Should there be new elections, according to surveys, the right-wing camp led by Salvini would currently have the best chance of winning.