Rome, July 14 (BNA) Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told his cabinet that he will submit his resignation Thursday evening to the country’s president, after an ally in the populist coalition refused to support a major government bill.
“The majority of the national unity that has supported this government since its inception no longer exists,” Draghi said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
It is up to Italian President Sergio Mattarella to accept or decline the resignation.
The president could also ask Draghi to appear before Parliament in the coming days to request a formal vote on the government itself, to see if squabbling allies rally around him.
But if the government crisis is not resolved quickly, Mattarella could withdraw parliament, setting the stage for early elections as soon as September. As of now, the term of Parliament expires in the spring of 2023.
Hours earlier, Draghi and his pandemic government had won a vote of confidence, 172-39, in the Senate despite the populist 5-Star Movement’s refusal to support the bill, which earmarks 26 billion euros (dollars) to help struggling consumers and industries. With rising energy prices.
But the contempt, orchestrated by Five Star Leader Giuseppe Conte, Draghi’s predecessor, had already taken his toll.
Designed to help Italy recover from the coronavirus pandemic, Draghi’s broad coalition included parties from both the left and the right.
He indicated that he made it clear when he took office in February 2021 that his government “would have only moved forward if there was a clear possibility to be able to implement the government’s program” that was the basis of the ruling coalition.
The Prime Minister announced his decision after meeting Mattarella at the Quirinale Presidential Palace.
Mattarella had chosen the former European Central Bank chief – who was known as “Super Mario” to bail out “whatever it takes” from the euro – to pull Italy out of the coronavirus pandemic and lay the groundwork for tapping into billions in the EU’s pandemic recovery funds.
The Five Stars, who lost significant support in the last local elections, and slid in the polls, are in disarray.
Hardline five-star supporters, who were skeptical about joining the government last year, complain that their interests are being ignored. In the action voted on Thursday, the five-star opposed a requirement to allow Rome to operate a garbage incinerator in the Italian capital’s chronically choked suburbs.
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