The President of Italy turns to Mario Draghi to help resolve political crisis

It is far from clear whether a majority in the Italian parliament Draghi as prime minister will not support him, even if the former president of the European Central Bank indicates that he wants the post. If a viable coalition emerges for Mr. Draghi to lead, his most urgent tasks will include formulating a strategy for economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The whole of Europe has a share in the economic prosperity of Italy, given the country’s fluctuating national debt and the mixed feelings of the voters lately about the European Union and the euro. Germany and other EU members have agreed to endorse a massive pan-European recovery fund, mainly to prevent Italy from slipping into a deep slump. Italy’s economy shrank by almost 9% in 2020, according to data released on Tuesday, one of the deepest declines in the eurozone.

President Mattarella called Mr. Draghi was invited on Tuesday after Italy’s left-wing coalition government broke up and could not be reunited. That coalition, under Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, collapsed in part over the inability to agree on how to escape a deep recession due to Covid-19 and long periods.

Mattarella, Italy’s pressing challenges mean it can not afford a weak government or months of delayed decisions. “I call on all political forces in parliament to support a high government,” the president said.

People close to mr. Draghi says he has been reluctant to enter the minefields of the Italian coalition governments, which are usually short-lived and troublesome and whose collapse could damage the reputation of even highly regarded leaders. But it is difficult to reject a call from the country’s head of state amid a national emergency, these people say.

Mr. Draghi’s tenure as head of the ECB has made him one of the most respected public figures in Europe, at least within the continent’s broadly centrist, pro-EU political institution and with financial markets. Its promise in 2012 to ‘do whatever it takes’ to save the euro, including massive intervention in the government bond markets, is widely attributed to the escalation of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, which threatens to tear the currency union apart.

However, Italian anti-establishment parties, such as the populist 5-star movement and the anti-immigration league, have long been skeptical about Mr. Draghi, and regards him as the epitome of the country’s technocratic elite, blaming them for Italy’s economic stagnation and social decay. in the last quarter century. Without the support of one or both parties, Mr. Draghi struggles to find a majority with which to rule.

League leader Matteo Salvini on Tuesday reiterated his call for quick elections. However, it is known that other senior league politicians, including the party’s number two, Giancarlo Giorgetti, have the idea of ​​a broad coalition under Mr. Draghi supported.

The 5-star movement may not like Mr. Draghi does not, but the alternative to elections could be worse: opinion polls indicate huge losses for the party, which since 2018 has been the biggest source of support for Mr. Conte’s two governments were.

Mr. Conte, a little-known law professor, remained in power longer than most observers expected. But he falls out with a junior party that supports his coalition, the centrist Italia Viva group led by former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Conte accused him of having ideas to revive the Italian economy or to spend productively on EU financing production. Mr. Conte said he was open to ideas from Mr. Renzi, but talks aimed at restoring the coalition broke down on Tuesday.

Write to Marcus Walker at [email protected] and Giovanni Legorano at [email protected]