Struggle for power in Italy

All eyes were on Italian President Sergio Mattarella yesterday after he vetoed the proposed eurosceptic economy minister of what would have been Western Europe’s first populist Government, ushering in the likelihood of a new election within months.

News reports said Mattarella would convene the former International Monetary Fund official, Carlo Cottarelli, to the presidential palace overnight and ask him to form a technical Government that can lead Italy until a new election. Mattarella’s office declined to reveal his plans last night.

Markets have largely welcomed Mattarella’s decision to put an end to the proposed Government of the antiestablishment 5-Star Movement and right-wing nationalist League, which had insisted on Paolo Savona as economy minister. Savona, a former industry minister, has questioned whether Italy should ditch the euro as its currency.

Mattarella’s veto enraged both League leader Matteo Salvini and the 5-Stars’ Luigi Di Maio, who threatened to start impeachment proceedings against him.

Mattarella, however, took pains to explain that he was fully in his constitutional right and duty to reject Savona as economy minister, saying he had repeatedly asked for a minister who wouldn’t be perceived as entertaining Italy’s exit from the euro.

“Sticking with the euro is a fundamentally important choice for our country and our young people,” Mattarella said in a statement.

“If you want to discuss it, it should have been done openly and with a serious debate,” which he noted hadn’t been part of the electoral campaign.

Cottarelli is an economist who assisted a former centre-left Government in slashing public spending.

A technical Government will still be subject to votes of confidence in both houses of Parliament, and the 5-Star and League made it clear Cottarelli wouldn’t have their support.

In an interview with Radio Capital, Salvini wondered aloud who would vote for him. Mattarella “didn’t give the centre-right the chance to form a Government because we didn’t have the votes, and now Mr Cottarelli arrives without any votes? It seems a stretch,” Salvini said.

Salvini also warned ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi against voting for Cottarelli’s Government. Berlusconi had never endorsed the populist attempt at government, but hadn’t impeded it either.