On Thursday, Italian Prime Minister (PM) Mario Draghi tendered his resignation, following which President Sergio Mattarella dissolved the parliament and called for fresh elections.
Mattarella said that dissolving the parliament was “the last choice to make,” particularly in light of the political and economic situation. “The period we are going through doesn’t allow for any pause in determining interventions to contrast the economic and social crisis, and in particular the increase in inflation, which brings heavy consequences for families and businesses,” he stressed.
However, he said that the trust vote “made evident” that support for the government had deteriorated and made the “early dissolution of the chambers inevitable.”
A day before the resignation, three of Draghi’s coalition partners—former PM Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, former deputy PM Matteo Salvini’s League, and the populist Five Star Movement—refused to support the PM in a confidence vote by either being absent or abstaining. The leader of the Five Star Movement, Giuseppe Conte, another ex-PM, stressed that his party had been “the target of a political attack” and was “forced to the door.”
This guy - Matteo Salvini - has just contributed to bringing down the Draghi government in 🇮🇹, and now hopes that a new election will bring him to power. Corks are popping in the Kremlin. pic.twitter.com/CrDn0mKPWl
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) July 21, 2022
A majority of legislators nonetheless voted in favour of Draghi in the confidence vote. However, Draghi posited that the collapse of the ruling coalition would impact the government’s ability to combat its challenges, including the Ukraine war, the energy crisis, and post-COVID economic recovery.
Keeping this in mind, Draghi announced his resignation, though he will serve as interim PM until the result of the snap elections is announced.
In Italy, Mario Draghi’s government has been destroyed by a provincial pro-Putin populist who resented being replaced by Draghi in February 2021, by a loud mouthed anti-immigrant demagogue who still supports Putin, and by an unscrupulous octogenarian who is an old buddy of Putin.
— Alan Friedman (@alanfriedmanit) July 21, 2022
After his resignation, Draghi made a brief appearance in the parliament on Thursday, where the lawmakers welcomed him with applause. He responded to the overwhelming support for his leadership by saying, “Even central bankers have their hearts touched sometimes.”
Meanwhile, Enrico Letta, yet another former PM, and the head of the centre-left Democratic Party, warned that those who voted against Draghi had “gone against Italy and Italians’ interests.” In fact, 1,500 mayors from across the political spectrum, as well as labour unions, declared their support for PM Draghi.
Even outside Italy, leaders have extended their support for Draghi’s leadership. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his gratitude for the PM’s “unwavering support” for Ukraine against Russia’s military invasion.
In a similar vein, French Minister for European Affairs Laurence Boone warned that the collapse of Draghi’s coalition caused a “period of uncertainty” and marked the loss of a “pillar of Europe.”
Sincerely grateful to #MarioDraghi for unwavering support to 🇺🇦 in fighting against Russian aggression & defending common European values - democracy & freedom. We'll keep working to boost 🇺🇦-🇮🇹 cooperation. I'm convinced that the active support of 🇮🇹 people for 🇺🇦 will continue!
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 21, 2022
Draghi had been struggling to maintain the coalition he had led for over 18 months. He took over as the PM in 2021 and was given the herculean task of facilitating recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, in particular to utilise the European Union’s Covid recovery package responsibly. He was seen as an apt appointment for this role, given his experience as the president of the European Central Bank from 2011 to 2019.
As a result of his resignation and the consequent dissolution of the parliament, the country will conduct elections that were originally scheduled for May 2023 in September this year.
According to opinion polls, the alliance of conservative parties is likely to secure a clear majority in the polls, wherein the far-right Brothers of Italy will lead the coalition and form an alliance with Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and the League.
#Europe was so lucky with Mario Draghi as 🇮🇹 Italy’s Prime Minister. His reason, his wisdom, his great sense of responsibility will be dearly missed. Here pictured in #Vilnius back in 2019, when he was still presiding @ecb and visiting the rookie of the Eurozone - 🇱🇹Lithuania. pic.twitter.com/9WfBmf7BtB
— Arnoldas Pranckevičius (@APranckevicius) July 21, 2022
Georgia Meloni, the leader of the Brothers of Italy party, will likely be brought in as PM. Speaking on the recent developments, she said, “With Draghi’s resignation this legislature is over for Brothers of Italy… We will fight to give back to the Italian people what citizens of all other democracies have: the freedom to choose who represents them.”
Draghi originally submitted his resignation last Thursday, after the 5-Star Movement refused to support the ruling government in a vote on a policy to address the cost-of-living crisis. He said the vote was “very significant from a political point of view,” stressing that the 5-Star Movement’s decision indicates that “the pact of trust underlying the government’s action has failed.”
However, President Mattarella rejected the resignation at the time, instead asking Draghi to address the parliament and subsequently assess the political situation.