Italian Parties Boycott Draghi Confidence Vote... Coalition Facing Collapse

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The grand coalition government led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi in Italy is facing collapse. On the 20th (local time), Bloomberg reported that a confidence vote on the Draghi cabinet passed in the Senate with 95 votes in favor and 38 against. Out of a total of 320 seats, 192 members were present, 133 participated in the vote, and 59 abstained.

However, the coalition parties?Five Star Movement, Forza Italia (FI), and the far-right League?boycotted the confidence vote, rendering the vote effectively meaningless. Former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, leader of the largest parliamentary party, the Five Star Movement, had been pressuring Draghi by threatening to withdraw from the coalition over disagreements on livelihood support measures and military aid to Ukraine.

Prime Minister Draghi announced his intention to resign after the Five Star Movement abstained from the Senate vote on the livelihood support bill on the 14th. President Sergio Mattarella rejected Draghi’s resignation and urged him to seek the parliament’s judgment by prompting the confidence vote that day. Before the vote, Draghi emphasized, "If we want to be together, the only way is to rebuild the coalition from the beginning with courage, altruism, and trust."

With the coalition’s division reaffirmed, Draghi is expected to announce his resignation again. The news agency predicted on the 21st that he would submit his resignation once more. In that case, President Mattarella must decide whether to appoint an interim prime minister to run the cabinet until the general election scheduled for May next year or dissolve the parliament and hold an early election in September or October this year.

Meanwhile, during his one and a half years in power, Draghi played a crucial role in securing 200 billion euros (approximately 267 trillion won) in support from the European Union (EU) by presenting reform plans agreed upon with the EU. However, to secure this funding, the proposed reforms must be implemented, and Draghi’s resignation could complicate the issue. Paolo Gentiloni, EU Commissioner for Economy, expressed concern, saying, "A storm may be coming to Italy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.