Draghi on brink of resignation despite winning confidence vote

MARIO DRAGHI, the Italian prime minister, yesterday won a critical confidence vote but was on the cusp of resigning regardless after three of his key allies boycotted the process.

Following hours of debate in the Senate, Draghi’s government looked set to fall when three of his coalition partners said they would not vote, further rupturing the precarious alliance and making early elections all but certain.

The Senate voted 95 to 38 in favour of Draghi’s government, but it was a hollow victory after Forza Italia, the antiimmigrant League and populist Five Star Movement abstained.

The prime minister had earlier vowed to walk away unless he got the full backing of his government.

He was expected to hand in his resignation late last night.

Part of the issue was with the 5 Star Movement, which triggered the entire crisis by boycotting another no confidence vote last week. The centre-right coalition – Forza Italia and League – said yesterday they would not remain in government if the 5 Star stayed.

The stand by “irresponsible” parties risked “creating a perfect storm,” Paolo Gentiloni, the EU economy commissioner, said on Twitter, adding that Italy faced “difficult months ahead”. “The centre-right will go down in history as the ones who got rid of Mario Draghi,” Francesco Galietti, a Policy Sonar analyst, said.

The evening capped a week of political unrest. Mr Draghi announced he was quitting after 5 Star boycotted last Thursday’s confidence vote but Sergio Mattarella, the Italian president, refused to accept his resignation, saying Italy needed strong leadership amid problems including a cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine.

Tens of thousands of citizens also signed a petition asking Draghi to stay in his job.

In an uncompromising speech yesterday morning, the usually soft-spoken Mr Draghi bellowed in parliament that he would continue to govern only if his coalition remained united.

“The only way, if we want to stay together, is to rebuild this pact, with courage, altruism and credibility,” the former European Central Bank chief told his coalition partners.

Analysts said Mr Draghi was at fault for not working harder to unite his allies behind him ahead of the vote.

“That he hasn’t tried to secure a clear outcome in the last two days, by agreeing with the parties what he was going to say/offer, is frankly quite poor judgment,” said Daniele Albertazzi, a political professor at the University of Surrey.

‘The centre-right will go down in history as the ones who got rid of Mario Draghi’