The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Mario Draghi convenes Council of Ministers: will he resign?

2022-07-14T16:51:49.550Z


Mario Draghi survived the vote of confidence, but a coalition partner stayed away from the vote. In the evening, the decision on a possible resignation of the prime minister could be made.


Enlarge image

Mario Draghi

Photo: LUKAS BARTH / REUTERS

The Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi called the Council of Ministers to a meeting for Thursday evening at short notice.

The meeting should begin at 6:15 p.m., according to his office in Rome.

The head of government was previously for a one-hour conversation with the head of state Sergio Mattarella.

In the meantime, there is also speculation about a possible resignation.

However, the Ansa news agency reported that the 74-year-old ex-head of the European Central Bank had not submitted a resignation to Mattarella.

Draghi should now determine how and whether he wants to continue governing.

The crisis that has been raging for days reached a new high on Thursday.

The co-governing Five Star Movement stayed away from an important parliamentary vote in the Senate.

She also refrained from expressing her confidence in Draghi.

Vote won, support lost

Draghi had previously announced his resignation several times should the Five Star Movement break up the coalition.

The Senate - the smaller chamber in Italy's two-chamber parliament - voted 172 votes in favor of a billion-dollar aid decree, which was linked to a vote of confidence.

39 MPs voted against.

However, shortly after the vote, hardly anyone was interested anymore.

How does President Mattarella decide?

Mattarella now has an important role to play.

He may have persuaded Draghi to remain in office and face another no-confidence vote in the next few days.

Or he could appoint an interim prime minister before the regular general election in the first half of next year.

The election could be brought forward to autumn.

This would be unusual, however, because this is the time when the budget, which has to be approved by the end of the year, is traditionally prepared.

In the EU, developments in Italy are being followed with concern and astonishment, said Economy Commissioner and former Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

At the present time, cohesion and stability are necessary.

The government crisis had been looming for days.

The five-star movement around Draghi's predecessor Giuseppe Conte had already announced that it wanted to stay away from the vote.

The decree provides billions in aid and investments for families and companies.

But the five stars demand more money.

Conte also sees demands such as the introduction of a minimum wage not being met.

“We are absolutely ready for dialogue in order to make our constructive contribution to the government and to Draghi.

But we are not prepared to issue a blank check," Conte said before the vote.

svs/dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-07-14

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.