Will history remember that Mario Draghi was pushed out because of a garbage incinerator? The Italian Prime Minister, faced with the crumbling of his coalition, announced in the Council of Ministers that he would submit his resignation this Thursday, July 14 in the evening, indicated the government. «I want to announce that this evening I will submit my resignation to the President of the Republic» Sergio Mattarella, declared Mario Draghi, according to remarks reported in a press release from his services.
However, the President of the Republic refused the resignation of Mario Draghi. «The President of the Republic did not accept the resignation of the President of the Council and invited him to appear in Parliament (…) so that an assessment of the situation takes place» created by the non-participation of a party from his coalition to a vote of confidence in the Senate, the presidency said in a statement.
Mario Draghi’s government was weakened by the decision of the 5 Star Movement (M5S, antisystem), a member of the ruling coalition, to boycott a vote of confidence in the Senate. In accordance with the announcement made on Wednesday 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 a decree-law containing measures of around 23 billion euros to help families and businesses deal with inflation.
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. «We must respond to the social malaise which is increasing in a clear and decisive way. The irresponsible are not us, they are those who do not give an answer to the country», justified Mariolina Castellone, head of the senators of the M5S. «Today, we are not taking part in the vote on this decree-law because we do not share either one of its provisions», that concerning the incinerator in Rome, «nor the method» of its adoption, he said. she adds. The M5S opposes incinerators, which it finds expensive, polluting, inefficient and do not encourage the population to selective sorting. He also calls for the establishment of a minimum wage and a citizen’s income.
Mario Draghi, who spoke immediately after the vote of confidence in the Senate with President Sergio Mattarella, whose role is crucial in the event of a political crisis, had a majority to govern even without the 5 Stars. But the ex-boss of the European Central Bank had affirmed on several occasions that there would be no government without them. He had indeed come to business in early 2021 to form a “national unity” coalition capable of overcoming the pandemic emergency and the ensuing economic crisis. However, without the support of the M5S, he considered that his government was becoming «political» and considered that he had not been mandated to lead a cabinet of this nature.
The legislative elections were scheduled for 2023 and Sergio Mattarella did not want to bring them forward to the fall. The President of the Republic indeed intended 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-19, 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.
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).