In view of the multiple current crises, it might have been better if Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi had tried to continue governing. Consequence one can not deny Draghi course. The confident and sharp speech he delivered in the Senate on Wednesday will be remembered.
In it he said that as the unelected prime minister of an almost all-party coalition government, he did not have the power to engage in party politics. Therefore, he can only continue to govern if all governing parties support him. That is the “pact of trust” on which the government is based. He, Draghi, will not hurt him.
But he was injured. A part of the populist 5-star movement, which has recently lost favor with voters, did not express their confidence in him. The government’s two right-wing parties, Salvini’s Lega and Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, also did not vote for Draghi. On the grounds that they would no longer want to govern together with the Five Stars. It is these three parties that overthrew Draghi, a man of principle.
The abrupt end of the Draghi government is yet another piece of evidence that Italy’s bickering parties — with the possible exception of the left-wing Democratic Party — are indeed what popular wisdom has it: they put their interests and their petulance above all else. Now President Mattarella will presumably dissolve the Senate and House of Representatives, and elections will then take place in the fall. That would have happened next spring anyway.
The Draghi government was an attempt to bridge the time until the next elections with an expert as head of government – until finally an elected politician became prime minister again. The citizens wanted it that way, they have taken to the streets in large numbers – something quite unique – in the past few days to encourage the taciturn but purposeful Draghi to continue. Three parties to the right of center prevented that.
In the ensemble of European states, Italy now represents a permanent anomaly. It does so by suspending the democratic process of determining governments. Draghi is not the first prime minister who came into office from outside with the help of the president. This method may be effective, but in the long run it erodes democracy.
That could be the end of it now. If the latest polls are correct, there will be a 46 percent majority for three right-of-centre parties after the fall election. And the strongest of the three is likely to be the “Fratelli d’Italia” led by Giorgia Meloni, who openly and confidently describe themselves as post-fascist.
Italy’s Communist Party was once the strongest in Europe. It says a lot about the country that a majority of its citizens today would apparently accept a government led by post-fascists. And it also says a lot about Italy that Parliament is not able or willing to prevent this.
