Italy: Mario Draghi's government on the edge of the precipice

The future of the government of Mario Draghi seems very compromised after the decision of the Movement 5 Stars (M5S, antisystem), member of the coalition in power, to boycott a vote of confidence on a text discussed Thursday in the Senate.

In accordance with the announcement made the day before by Giuseppe Conte, predecessor of Mario Draghi and current boss of the M5S, the senators of his party did not participate in the vote of confidence requested by the executive on the occasion of a decree- law containing measures of approximately 23 billion euros to help families and businesses in the face of inflation.

Read alsoThe Italian Parliament supports Draghi on Ukraine despite the split of the M5S

Mr. Draghi has a majority to govern even without the 5 Stars, but the former head of the European Central Bank has repeatedly affirmed that there would be no government without them.

He had indeed come to business in early 2021 to form a coalition of “

” likely to overcome the pandemic emergency and the ensuing economic crisis.

However, without the support of the M5S, he considers that his government is becoming “

” and considers that he has not been mandated to lead a cabinet of this nature.

"

", analyzed for AFP Franco Pavoncello, professor of political science at the American University of Rome John Cabot.

Read alsoIn Italy, towards the end of the state of grace for Mario Draghi

The story is Italian, and therefore complicated: the decree-law at the center of the political crisis also contains a measure to facilitate the construction of a garbage incinerator in Rome, which the M5S are opposed to.

“

”, justified Mariolina Castellone, head of the senators of the M5S.

“

”, that concerning the incinerator in Rome, “

” of its adoption, she added. .

The M5S opposes incinerators which, according to them, are expensive, polluting, inefficient and do not encourage the population to sort waste.

They also demand the establishment of a minimum wage and a citizen's income.

Fall of the stock market in Milan

But the movement also, if not above all, has electoralist ulterior motives, according to analysts.

“

,” Lorenzo Codogno, former chief economist at the Italian Treasury and visiting professor at the London School of Economics, told AFP.

The M5S, winner of the last legislative elections, in 2018, with 32% of the votes and a relative majority in Parliament, has since continued to plummet in voting intentions, today at 10%-11%, and number of its elected officials have since left it.

A third of its deputies, around 50, split and followed former M5S leader, current Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, who recently created his own party, Together for the Future (IPF).

Uncertainty over the future of the Draghi government did not fail to cause market turbulence: the Milan Stock Exchange fell more than 3% on Thursday afternoon and the cost of Italy's debt rose again on the rise, a sign of the ambient nervousness.

Avoid a campaign and an election

Regarding Mario Draghi, Franco Pavoncello observes that "

".

Mr. Codogno thinks that the solution could be a possible "

" government or with another Prime Minister to manage current affairs and lead the country to the legislative elections of early 2023, because the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, does not want no elections in September.

The Head of State intends to avoid a time-consuming campaign and ballot at a time when the country is facing the consequences of Russian aggression against Ukraine, facing a new wave of Covid, must prepare the 2023 budget and put in place all the measures requested by the European Union to benefit from the approximately 200 billion euros granted to Rome within the framework of the EU system.