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ITALY-POLITICS, NEWSERIES
Mario Draghi sworn in as Italy’s new PM
ROME, Feb 13, 2021 (AFP) – Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi
was formally sworn in as Italy’s new prime minister on Saturday, against the
backdrop of the deadly coronavirus pandemic and a crippling recession.
The appointment of the 73-year-old known as “Super Mario” capped weeks of
political instability for the country still in the grips of the health crisis
that has killed more than 93,000 people.
“I swear to be loyal to the Republic,” recited Draghi, as he stood before
President Sergio Mattarella in the ornate presidential palace in a ceremony
broadcast live on television.
Members of his new cabinet, who include technocrats, veteran politicians
and ministers held over from the previous government, each took the oath of
office.
Draghi was parachuted in by Mattarella after the previous centre-left
coalition under premier Giuseppe Conte collapsed, leading Italy rudderless at
a critical time.
He spent the last 10 days assembling a broad-based coalition and on Friday
night formally accepted the post of premier in a meeting with Mattarella,
after which he publicly revealed the new cabinet for the first time.
On Wednesday, Draghi will be presented to the Senate, the upper house of
parliament, followed by the lower Chamber of Deputies on Thursday for a
confidence vote that will give the final official blessing to his government.
“Break a leg,” read the headline on La Stampa daily Saturday, as an Ipsos
poll in the Corriere della Sera daily showed that 62 percent of Italians
supported Draghi.
– Coalition, for now? –
Draghi has the support of a rainbow coalition ranging from leftists to
Matteo Salvini’s far-right League.
It includes the populist Five Star Movement (M5S), the centre-left
Democratic Party (PD) and Italia Viva — who made-up the previous government
and then fell out over the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. M5S, the
biggest party in parliament which began life as an anti-establishment
movement, was split over whether to support a government led by an unelected
technocrat.
But in an online vote, members backed Draghi by 59 percent, after securing
the promise of a new super-ministry for “ecological transition”.
That post has gone to renowned physicist Roberto Cingolani, who works at
Italian aeronautics giant Leonardo.
The senior deputy governor of Bank of Italy, Daniele Franco, was named as
the new economy minister, while Roberto Speranza and Luigi Di Maio stay on at
health and foreign affairs, respectively.
– Challenges await –
Italy has high hopes for its new leader, who famously said he would do
“whatever it takes” to save the eurozone in the midst of the 2010s debt
crisis.
Although he himself has no political power base, Draghi can count on his
experience during years working in the Italian civil service, as well as his
banking career.
His arrival was greeted with delight by the financial markets, and Italy’s
borrowing costs dropped to a historic low this week.
Nevertheless, “it is difficult to overstate the scale of the challenges
that Draghi and Italy face”, said Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European
Reform.
The Covid-19 shutdown and waves of subsequent restrictions caused the
economy to shrink by a staggering 8.9 percent last year, while more than
420,000 people have lost their jobs.
It is Italy’s worst recession since World War II.
The virus remains rife and Conte’s cabinet, in one of its last acts, on
Friday tightened curbs in four regions and extended a ban on travelling
between regions.
Like other European Union countries, Italy has also fallen behind in its
vaccination programme, blaming delivery delays.
The country is pinning its hopes on receiving more than 220 billion euros
($267 billion) in EU recovery funds to help get back on its feet.
But disputes over how to spend the money, between demands for longstanding
structural reform and short-term stimulus, brought down the previous
government.
Draghi’s job looks easier than that faced by previous technocrat prime
ministers, such as Mario
Monti in 2011, who turned to severe, unpopular austerity measures during
the debt crisis.
“But spending funds is not enough,” noted researcher Scazzieri, adding
that the new premier “will find it just as challenging to enact long-called
for reforms”.
BSS/AFP/IJ/1752 hrs