The new Italian Prime Minister-designate, Mario Draghi, started political consultations with the parties yesterday in order to set up a professional government in Rome.
It is still unclear whether the 73-year-old economist will bring together a majority in parliament. Both the center-left alliance, which had previously supported Giuseppe Conte’s government, and the opposition right are divided over a cabinet of experts.
The outgoing Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, top politician of the populist five-star movement, the strongest single party in the Italian parliament, spoke out against a cabinet of experts and pushed for a government with politicians.
He called on the allied Social Democrats (Partito Democratico, PD) not to split. The five-star movement has over 300 parliamentarians and thus has a third of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate.
The Social Democrats are determined to support Draghi. The outgoing Minister of Culture, Dario Franceschini, called on the allied five-star movement to jointly support Draghi. “A dissolution of the PD-Five Star Alliance would favor the center-right alliance. We have tried to the last to continue the government work with Prime Minister Conte. Now we have to maintain our alliance, ”said Franceschini.
Right-wing parties are calling for new elections
There are also differences in the center-right over a Draghi government. Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia party and rising star of the Italian right-wing populists, is calling for new elections. The right-wing populist Lega has signaled its willingness to support a Draghi government, but much depends on its program, according to party leader Matteo Salvini.
In any case, Draghi can count on the support of ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, the head of Forza Italia. Between the ex-ECB president and the Milanese media tycoon there is „mutual respect,“ said Forza Italia circles.
The most urgent task of the new government will be to submit plans to Brussels by the end of April for the use of 200 billion euros in EU aid funds for reconstruction after the CoV crisis. The plans are a prerequisite for the payment of the funds. Conte announced his resignation last week after the center-left coalition he led broke up over the dispute over the use of the CoV aid funds.
