Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Friday that the Draghi government is unlikely to survive the current crisis. On Thursday, Draghi tendered his resignation, which President Mattarella rejected.
Following 5-Star Movement (M5S)’s failure to back the government in a confidence vote in the Senate, Draghi presented his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday. Mattarella refused to accept it and told Draghi to report to parliament and assess the situation. The Prime Minister is set to do so on Wednesday.
However, Draghi has said he is unwilling to continue with his national unity government without the M5S.
What does the future hold for the Draghi government?
Nobody really knows what would happen if the Draghi executive does collapse. However, it is likely parliament will be dissolved and early elections will take place within months.
On RTL radio today, former M5S leader and Foreign Secretary Di Maio said: “It would be right for the Draghi government and the coalition to continue, but at the moment I see that as highly unlikely”.
Di Maio left the movement to form his own centrist party, Together for the Future (IPF), after a row over M5S leader and ex-premier Giuseppe Conte’s opposition to Italy sending more weapons to Ukraine. He blasted his former group as “irresponsible”.
“Conte’s party, which is no longer the M5S, decided not to support the confidence vote and the premier, a man of his word, resigned as he said he would,” Di Maio said. “Unless there is an act of maturity from the parties in the next few hours, we risk no longer having a government on Wednesday and there will be early elections. And this will be a serious problem for the country.
“With parliament dissolved, we’ll have a provisional administration that won’t have the power to approve the budget (for 2023). We’ll see what happens with the bond spread in the coming hours. We certainly won’t be able to handle the gas-price cap (the Draghi government has been calling for at the EU level).
“The procedures to implement the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP or PNRR) will stop”.
US President continues to support Italy
However, the outcome of Italy’s crisis of government will not change relations between Rome and Washington, the White House said on Friday.
“The USA and Italy are close allies and the relationship between our peoples is strong,” a White House spokesperson said responding to a question posed by ANSA. “We’ll continue to work closely together on a series of important priorities, including support for Ukraine against Russian aggression”.
