Mario Draghi, a respected economist who once headed the European Central Bank, gathered enough support on Friday to form a national unity government with broad support in parliament in the hope of clearing the country from the coronavirus crisis and economic damage. as a result of the pandemic.
Mr Draghi accepted a mandate from the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, to form a new cabinet and seek a vote of confidence in Parliament. But its rise has already reshaped the country’s fragmented political landscape.
The new government is expected to prioritize Italy’s vaccination campaign, expand welfare protections for the unemployed, and increase support for healthy businesses and for education. Mr Draghi is also likely to address measures that Europe has long pushed Italy for, such as streamlining the bureaucracy, making the justice system more efficient and introducing a tax reform.
The new cabinet will include mainly politicians, but also some technocrats such as Daniele Franco, the Bank of Italy’s Director General, as Economy Minister, and Marta Cartabia, former President of the Italian Constitutional Court, as Justice Minister. Mr Draghi held key positions of some ministers from the former government, such as the head of the Ministry of Health.
The government is bringing together an unlikely line of rival parties from both ends of the political spectrum, from the historic liberals to the anti-establishment movement and the far right.
The left-wing Democratic Party will join the nationalist League party, Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right Forza Italia party and the populists of the Five Star Movement. Luigi Di Maio, the current Foreign Minister and a top five star official, has in the past called Mr. Berlusconi, a media mogul and former Prime Minister, a “traitor”.
Last week, Mr Mattarella, the president, called for a high-profile government after political leaders failed to reshuffle Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s shaky coalition government. Mr Conte was overthrown after Matteo Renzi, the leader of a minority party and another former prime minister, withdrew his support.
Mr Draghi received enthusiastic support from Italy’s pro-European forces and the centrists representing the country’s business elites. He also gained the backing of the populist Five Star Movement which, while his support is thriving in polls, is still the largest party in Parliament.
“Our fate is not withdrawal,” Luigi Di Maio, Italy’s outgoing Foreign Minister of the Five Star Movement, said in a Facebook video, adding that it would be inexcusable to tell other parties the European emergency resources that Italy will receive. let spend. “I think we should participate.”
But the populist party didn’t give final approval to Draghi’s government until Thursday night, after saying a majority of its core members agreed to join the government.
Even Mr Conte, the outgoing prime minister who initially hoped to have a chance to form the new government through a reshuffle, said he would vote for Mr Draghi’s government.
“There are such urgent needs that it’s a good thing to have a government anyway,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
The leader of the nationalist League party, Matteo Salvini, also decided to cooperate. Had he opposed the new government, he would have risked disrupting his strong base in Italy’s industrial north.
Mr. Salvini also seized the opportunity to voice over the comprehensive national recovery plan that Mr. Draghi will manage in the coming months.
“We can be part of a government that is thinking about growth,” Salvini said at a news conference on Tuesday. “We trust Professor Draghi.”
For Mr Salvini, who wore ‘Enough Euro’ T-shirts in 2018 and defined the European Union as a ‘pit of snakes and jackals’, endorsing the former head of the European Central Bank represents a radical shift. Even on the immigration issue, conversations with Mr Draghi seemed to have softened his usually harsh language.
“As for immigration, I just want a European approach,” he said.
In doing so, Mr. Salvini indicated his willingness to compromise even during his most pivotal struggle of recent years, one that helped his party gain support in public opinion and in elections.
“Draghi’s nomination was already taking effect,” Andrea Orlando, Democratic Party deputy secretary, wrote on Twitter last week. “Salvini became pro-European within 24 hours.”