The former Chief of European Central Bank Mario Draghi on February 13, 2021, was formally sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Italy, against the backdrop of the deadly pandemic and crippling economic recession.
The appointment of the 73-years old Mario Draghi has capped the weeks of political instability for Italy which is still in the grips of a health crisis that has killed more than 93,000 people.
Draghi recited ‘I swear to be loyal to the Republic’, as he stood before President Sergio Mattarella in the ornate presidential palace in a ceremony which was broadcasted live on the television.
Draghi takes charge at the critical time:
Mario Draghi was parachuted in by President Sergio Mattarella after the previous Centre-Left coalition government under premier Giuseppe Conte collapsed, leading the country without any governance at a critical time.
Draghi had spent the last 10 days assembling a broad-based coalition and on the night of February 12, he formally accepted the post of the Prime Minister in a meeting with Mattarella. After the meeting, he publicly revealed the new cabinet for the very first time.
On February 17, Draghi will be presented to the Senate, the Upper House of the Parliament, then followed by the lower chamber of the deputies on February 18 for a confidence vote that will give the final official blessing to his new government.
Members of Mario’s new cabinet, who include veteran politicians, technocrats, and ministers held over from the previous government of Italy, also took the oath of the office.
Coalition government in Italy:
Mario Draghi has the support of the rainbow coalition which ranges from leftists to the far-right League of Matteo Salvini.
The coalition includes the Populist Five Star Movement- M5S, the Centre-Left Democratic Party (PD), and Italia Viva- which made-up the previous government and then had a fall out over the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic.
M5S which is the biggest party in the Parliament and began life as an anti-establishment movement was split over whether to give support to the government led by an unelected technocrat.
But the members, in an online vote, backed Draghi by 59%, after securing the promise of a new super-ministry for ecological-transition. That post has gone to the famous Physicist Roberto Cingolani, who works at Leonardo, an Italian aeronautics giant.
Daniele Franco, the senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Italy has been named as the new economy minister, while Luigi Di Maio and Roberta Speranza stay on foreign affairs and health.
Challenges await for Mario Draghi:
Italy has high hopes for its new Prime Minister, who famously said that he would do ‘whatever it takes’ to save the eurozone in the midst of the 2010s debt crisis.
Although Draghi himself has no political power, he can count on his experience during the years when he worked in the Italian Civil Service, as well as his banking career.
His arrival has also been greeted with delight by the financial markets and the borrowing costs of Italy dropped to a historic low this week.
The shutdown because of the COVID-19 and the waves of restrictions had caused the economy to shrink by 8.9% in 2020, while more than 4,20,000 people have lost their jobs, making it Italy’s worst recession since World War II.
Italy, like any other European Union Country, has also fallen behind in its vaccination programe blaming the delivery delays. The country has its hopes of receiving more than 220 billion euros in EU recovery funds to help get back on its feet.
However, the dispute of how to spend the money became one of the major reasons for the fall down of the previous government.
Draghi’s job might look easier than that of the previous technocrat prime ministers but according to the noted researcher Scazzieri, the spending of funds is not enough, and that the new premier will find it just as challenging to enact long-called for reforms.
Comments
All Comments (0)
Join the conversation