ROME – Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi was formally sworn in as Italy’s new prime minister today, 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 centrist 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 last 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 in La Stampa today, as an Ipsos poll in the Corriere della Sera daily showed that 62% of Italians supported Draghi.
Draghi has the support of a rainbow coalition including the twin populist forces from the Five Star Movement to Matteo Salvini’s far-right League.
The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and ex-premier Matteo Renzi’s Italia Viva – who made-up the previous government and then abruptly pulled its support.
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%, 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.
The Covid-19 shutdown and waves of subsequent restrictions caused the economy to shrink by a staggering 8.9% last year, while more than 420,000 people have lost their jobs.
It is Italy’s worst recession since World War II.
The country is pinning its hopes on receiving more than €220 billion (RM1.077 trillion) in EU recovery funds to help get back on its feet.
But disputes over how to spend the money, as well as demands for longstanding structural reform and short-term stimulus, brought down the previous government. – AFP, February 13, 2021
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