The President of Italy addresses Mario Draghi to help resolve the political crisis

It is far from clear whether a majority in the Italian Parliament would support Mr Draghi as prime minister, even if the former president of the European Central Bank says he wants the job. If a viable coalition emerges for Mr. Draghi to lead, his most urgent tasks would include formulating a strategy for economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The whole of Europe has a stake in Italy’s economic wealth, given the country’s national debt and the mixed feelings of the electorate lately about the European Union and the euro. Germany and other EU members have agreed to subscribe to a massive pan-European recovery fund, largely to prevent Italy from slipping into a deep crisis. Italy’s economy contracted by almost 9% in 2020, according to data released on Tuesday, one of the deepest declines in the euro area.

President Mattarella invited Draghi on Tuesday after the left-leaning Italian coalition government fell apart and could not be reunited. The coalition, led by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, collapsed in part due to its inability to agree on how to escape a deep recession resulting from Covid-19 and prolonged blockades.

Italy’s urgent challenges mean it cannot afford a weak government or months of delayed decisions while holding early elections, Mr Mattarella said. “I call on all political forces in Parliament to support a high-level government,” he said.

People close to Mr Draghi say he has been reluctant to enter the minefield of Italian coalition governments, which tend to be short-lived and fractured and whose collapses can tarnish the reputation of even highly esteemed leaders. But it is difficult to reject an appeal from the country’s head of state in the midst of a national emergency, these people say.

Mr Draghi’s tenure as head of the ECB has made him one of Europe’s most respected public figures, at least in the continent’s generally centrist, pro-EU and financial markets political institution. Its 2012 promise to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro, including massive intervention in government bond markets, is largely credited with defusing Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, which has threatened to destroy the currency union.

However, Italian anti-establishment parties, such as the 5-star populist movement and the Anti-Immigration League, have long been skeptical of Mr Draghi, seeing him as a symbol of the country’s technocratic elite, whom they blame for Italy’s economic stagnation and social decline. in the last quarter of a century. Without the support of one or both parties, Mr Draghi would struggle to find a majority to govern with.

The leader of the League, Matteo Salvini, repeated on Tuesday his call for quick elections, opinion polls suggesting that his center-right alliance would win. However, other politicians in the Premier League, including the party’s number two, Giancarlo Giorgetti, are known to support the idea of ​​a large-scale coalition under Mr Draghi.

Mr Draghi may not like the 5-star movement, but the election alternative may be worse: opinion polls indicate heavy losses for the party, which has been the biggest source of support for Mr Conte’s two governments. 2018.

Mr Conte, a little-known law professor, lasted longer in power than most observers expected. But he gave up a junior party that supports his coalition, the centrist group Italia Viva led by former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who accused Mr Conte of having no idea how to revive Italy’s economy or productively spend EU recovery funding. . Mr Conte said he was open to ideas from Mr Renzi, but talks aimed at repairing the coalition took place on Tuesday.

Write to Marcus Walker at [email protected] and Giovanni Legorano at [email protected]