Italy crisis looming

Angry populists vow to turn political snub into vote on EU

ITALY populists have vowed to convert voter anger over their thwarted bid to govern for the first time into a kind of plebiscite on the European Union, financial markets and eurozone membership as the country found itself propelled to fresh elections as soon as late summer.

Amid the political turmoil, Carlo Cottarelli, an economist with International Monetary Fund experience, was asked by the Italian president to assemble a technocrat government to take the country to elections.

Having had no fewer than 65 different governments since World War II – Italy is hardly renowned as a beacon of democratic stability.

But even by its own standards, the new political crisis engulfing this volatile nation is becoming more troubling and bizarre by the day.

Marooned in a sea of debt, with a stagnant economy and crippling unemployment, Italians renounced mainstream parties in a general election three months ago

With weeks of political uncertainty taking a toll on Italy’s bond and stock markets, Premier-designate Cottarelli said the return to the polls could come as early as after the August vacation break or, at the latest, at the start of 2019.

Only five days ago, another premier-designate, political novice Giuseppe Conte, stood in the same spot in the Quirinal presidential palace and declared he would work to create a “government of change” in what would have been Italy’s first populist government.

That dream deflated Sunday night when President Sergio Mattarella refused to submit to populist demands he approve their proposed economy minister, who in the past has called for a “Plan B” to exit the eurozone if EU strictures become too tight for Italy.

Economist Nicola Nobile said the upcoming election could shape up as a “de facto referendum on Italian membership in the eurozone.”