The government chaos in Italy is complete: although Prime Minister Draghi averts a vote of no confidence, he will resign from office. The 74-year-old declared the coalition of "national unity" to have failed. However, President Mattarella does not want to accept the resignation.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella has rejected Prime Minister Mario Draghi's offer to resign. Instead, he called on the non-party economist to report to Parliament and assess the current situation, as announced by his office in Rome. The reason for the rift in the Italian government was a parliamentary vote in which the co-governing party, the Five Star Movement, did not vote and thus did not express confidence in Draghi's cabinet.
Draghi could now try to reunite supporters in the two-chamber parliament and have this confirmed by a vote of confidence. Even with the previous multi-party government, he would have had the necessary majority, even without the Five Star Movement. Draghi is likely to find supporters among the Social Democrats, who have been co-governing so far, and the Italia Viva party of ex-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
The far-right Fratelli d'Italia, on the other hand, called for early elections. Matteo Salvini's right-wing party Lega has not ruled out new elections in the past. The populist anti-establishment party of Draghi's predecessor Giuseppe Conte decided on Thursday not to support an aid package worth around 26 billion euros. The Five Stars demand more aid money and did not want to vote for a waste incineration plant in the city of Rome, which is plagued by waste chaos. She has rejected this investment for years. Some observers assume that Conte gambled too high and has now lost control of his movement.
The sell-off in Italian government bonds accelerated after the withdrawal announcement. The yield gap to the ten-year federal paper widened further. The political uncertainty comes at a time when Italy is grappling with multiple challenges, including a dependency on Russian natural gas and a drought in the country. In the EU, developments in Italy are being followed with concern and astonishment, said Economy Commissioner and former Prime Minister of Italy, Paolo Gentiloni, before Draghi's announcement. At the present time, cohesion and stability are necessary.
