Mario Draghi secures support from key parties to form new Italian government

Italian Prime Minister-designate Mario Draghi has secured initial support from two key parties as he tries to form a government to take the country out of its current political crisis. On February 6, the populist 5-star movement and the rightwing League both signalled support for Draghi, keeping aside bitter rivalries of the good of the country. Draghi, who is the former chief of the European bank had already amassed the support of the Democratic Party, former premier Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, former premier Matteo Renzi’s Italy Live, and the small Free and Equal party.

“We are ready to overcome everything in the interest of the country,” Vito Crimi, leader of the 5-Star Movement which won most votes in the last parliamentary election in 2018 told press reproters.

The Italian Republic plunged into deep political crisis on January 13, after Matteo Renzi, leader of the Italian Vive (IV) revoked party support rendered to PM Guiseppe Conte. However, Renzi’s party failed to gain an absolute majority in the Senate forcing the country’s President Sergio Mattarella to start new consultations for the formation of the new government. Mattarella had then called upon Draghi, who is known by super Mario for saving the eurozone amid the debt crisis in 2012, to replace Conte.  

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Government confirms support

In the aftermath of having a meeting with Draghi, Matteo Salvini, leader of the League and former interior minister admitted that they were “available”.Speaking further, he said that they were the”  leading political force in the country and a force which should govern”. He then lampooned the far-right Brothers of Italy party, which said it intends to remain in opposition, saying that nobody can make a progress if they continued to say no.

Draghi, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained economist, had led the Italian central bank from 2005-2011 when he was tapped to lead the ECB, a job he held until 2019. Prior to that, he had been a vice-chairman and managing director at Goldman Sachs International in London and an executive director at the World Bank.

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