Icon: enlarge
Mario Draghi: Italy's new prime minister also won the second vote of confidence within a day
Photo: CARLOS COSTA / AFP
Italy's new Prime Minister Mario Draghi also won the second vote of confidence in a day.
Strengthened, he is now entering his first term at the head of a unified cabinet.
In the Chamber of Deputies, 535 politicians voted for Draghi's cabinet on Thursday evening, and there were 56 no-votes, the chamber announced.
With the clear approval of the larger of two chambers of parliament, the former President of the European Central Bank (ECB) took the last formal hurdle for his government in Rome.
This ends a political crisis that Italy blocked for weeks in the middle of the corona pandemic.
In the smaller Senate, the 73-year-old Draghi had already secured a solid majority on Wednesday: he received 262 yes-votes there.
40 senators voted against his new government, in which almost all parties are represented from right to left.
Only the right-wing extremist Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) have announced a sharp opposition.
Draghi's new alliance is the third government in the current legislature.
The next regular parliamentary elections in the country with 60 million inhabitants are planned for 2023.
In other words, the long-time monetary guardian and his team do not have much time to implement the demanding reform projects he is aiming for.
In view of the virus variants that are also widespread in Italy, the focus of the next few months is likely to be on the fight against the corona crisis.
In addition, economic power in the Mediterranean country collapsed more sharply in 2020 than in Germany, for example.
The new politician Draghi first presented his political agenda in the Senate on Wednesday.
On Thursday he spoke only briefly to the members of the Chamber.
Draghi repeatedly campaigned for the support of the people's representatives and called for unity in the fight against the corona pandemic.
Draghi had announced a faster vaccination campaign in the Senate.
He is also planning reforms in the economy, administration and the tax system.
In his words, the first priority is to draw up a reliable plan to secure Italy the around 209 billion euros from the EU reconstruction fund from Brussels.
Last Saturday, Head of State Sergio Mattarella swore in the economist and his cabinet of professional politicians and non-party experts.
The previous government under Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte lost its majority in the dispute over EU aid in mid-January.
Conte stepped
Icon: The mirror
asc / dpa / AFP