Italy’s President Mattarella rejects Prime Minister Draghi’s resignation
Rome (CNN)Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said he would resign later Thursday after the 5-Star movement, the largest party in the coalition government, withdrew its support in a parliamentary confidence vote.
Despite the 5-Star boycott, Draghi’s measures passed by 172 to 39. However, it left the government at real risk of collapse and could lead to an early election.
“I want to announce that this evening I will present my resignation to the President of the Republic,” Draghi said in a statement.
“Today’s votes in Parliament are very significant from a political point of view. The majority of national unity that has supported this government since its creation is no longer there,” he added.
But Italy’s President, Sergio Mattarella, has rejected Draghi’s resignation, the Italian Presidency said in a statement. Mattarella instead asked Draghi to address the parliament in order to assess the political situation.
“The President of the Republic did not accept the resignation and invited the Prime Minister to appear before Parliament to make communications, so that an assessment of the situation that has arisen as a result of the outcome of the session held today in the Senate of the Republic could be carried out in its proper forum,” the statement said.
Draghi was appointed Prime Minister if Italy in 2021 to help the country recover from the Covid-19 crisis. He was seen as a safe pair of hands that would be able to responsibly use the European Union’s Covid recovery funds. Draghi had previously served as President of the European Central Bank from 2011 to 2019. Upon taking the job he appointed a cabinet comprising of people from a wide range of Italy’s political parties.
Draghi had previously said that he would not lead a government that did not include 5-Star, the largest party in Italy’s party. The populist 5-Star movement objected to Draghi’s cost-of-living package on the grounds it didn’t go far enough, though it had been threatening to withdraw its support for a long time.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/14/europe/italy-government-collapse-july-intl/index.html
