After efforts to bring the country’s fractious parties to heel failed, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned on Thursday, kicking off a snap election campaign that could bring the hard right to power.
The internationally respected 74-year-old handed in his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella, who will now lead the country out of the crisis.
According to political analysts, Mattarella is likely to dissolve parliament and call early elections in September or October. Draghi may continue to lead the government until then.
“Italy betrayed”, the Repubblica daily frontpage cried, while the Stampa ran with “For Shame”.
Based on current polls, a rightist alliance led by Giorgia Meloni’s post-fascist Brothers of Italy party would comfortably win a snap election.
Draghi, a former head of the European Central Bank, was parachuted into the premiership in 2021 as Italy wrestled with a pandemic and ailing economy.
On Wednesday, he had attempted to save the government, urging his squabbling coalition to put aside their grievances for the sake of the country.
“Are you ready?” he asked the Senate four times. Now was not the time for uncertainty, amid a myriad of challenges, from a struggling economy and soaring inflation to the Ukraine war, he said.
Three parties — Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia, Matteo Salvini’s anti-immigrant League and populist Five Star Movement — decided they were not. They opted to sit out the vote, saying it was no longer possible for them to work together.
The crisis was sparked when Five Star snubbed a key vote last week, despite warnings from Draghi that it would fatally undermine the coalition.
His downfall comes in spite of recent polls suggesting most Italians wanted Draghi to stay at the helm until the scheduled general election next May.
Anxious investors were watching closely as the coalition imploded.
The European Central Bank was due Thursday to unveil a tool to correct stress in bond markets for indebted eurozone members, such as Italy.
The spread — the difference between 10-year Italian and German treasury bonds — widened to 215 points by market close on Wednesday.
Milan’s stock market dropped 2.0 per cent on opening Thursday.