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Updated December 23rd, 2021 at 16:18 IST

Draghi hails govt record on pandemic, growth

Italian Premier Mario Draghi said Wednesday his government has accomplished most of what it set out do to in fighting the pandemic and restoring economic growth.

Italian
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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Italian Premier Mario Draghi said Wednesday his government has accomplished most of what it set out do to in fighting the pandemic and restoring economic growth.

Italian media have been speculating for weeks that Draghi may soon seek to run for the presidency, given that the seven-year mandate of President Sergio Mattarella expires in February.

The Italian presidency has limited powers and is largely ceremonial.

But the president plays a key role in resolving political impasses, and having the internationally-respected Draghi in the Quirinale Palace would send a signal of Italian stability and credibility for seven more years.

Draghi, 74, didn't respond directly Wednesday when asked repeatedly about his future at an end-of-year news conference.

But he stressed that neither he nor his government were essential to Italy's continued fight against the pandemic or its implementation of its 261 billion-euro recovery plan.

The Italian president had called on Draghi to lead a broad-based government in February after a political crisis that saw the collapse of Giuseppe Conte's government.

It was a delicate moment in which the country needed to assert credible and stable leadership to persuade the European Commission to entrust it with billions in pandemic recovery grants and loans.

Draghi recalled that his government had been created at the request of Mattarella, and said it had done "much of what it was called to do," thanks to the support of the political forces that backed it, from the center-left Democratic Party to the center-right Forza Italia.

Draghi also spoke about Libya, after a parliamentary committee said Wednesday it had become "impossible" to hold a long-awaited presidential election in two days as scheduled, a major blow to international efforts to end a decade of chaos in the oil-rich country.

"Italy and Europe have done all they could to follow the process towards democracy in Libya and they will continue to do so. The fact that there are no elections is because of Libyan institutional problems," Draghi said.

The vote in Libya had faced many challenges, including disputes over the laws governing the elections and occasional infighting among armed groups.

Other obstacles include a long-running rift between the country's east and west, and the presence of thousands of foreign fighters and troops in the North African country.

"Some progress were made, like on a ceasefire, some mercenaries have left, but there was no big operations of repatriating Russian, or Turkish forces or the Syrian mercenaries, so we have to continue working on this," Draghi said.

IMAGE: AP

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Published December 23rd, 2021 at 16:18 IST

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