Italy could face a snap national election as Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government faces a vote of confidence on Wednesday after days of instability that have included his attempt to resign.
Prime Minister Draghi is expected to face a confidence vote in the Italian parliament on Wednesday after returning from a trip to Algeria on Monday and Tuesday to discuss issues regarding natural gas supplies.
The confidence vote comes just days after Draghi offered his resignation as prime minister to Italian President Sergio Mattarella after the Five Star Movement (M5S) abstained from a vote last week, leading to Draghi claiming that he could no longer govern sustainably.
“The majority of national unity that has supported this government since its creation is no longer there. The confidence pact behind government action has failed,” Draghi said shortly before President Matarella rejected his resignation on Friday.
Italian Drama: Prime Minister Mario Draghi Offers Resignation… President Refuses to Accepthttps://t.co/UsbTCM3IL6
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 14, 2022
However, according to a report from broadcaster France24, Draghi will only have until Wednesday to garner enough support to avoid a snap election, something several parties on the right now openly support, including League leader Matteo Salvini and Brother of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni.
In order to avoid a new election, Prime Minister Draghi may be forced to bow to pressure from M5S leader and former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who has called on Draghi to enact party policy priorities.
“We cannot share the responsibility of government if there is no certainty over the issues that we have underlined,” Conte said over the weekend.
Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, head of the centre-right Forza Italia party, has rejected the idea of keeping Conte and the M5S in the national coalition, claiming that there cannot be government stability if the Five stars are in the coalition.
According to a report from the newspaper Il Giornale, Berlusconi and his party are adamant that the Five Star Movement be excluded from the national coalition or they will support a new national election.
“The solution is: either a Draghi government without the Five Stars or you go to vote,” Forza Italia member and former European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said.
“The position of Forza Italia has been clear since the beginning of this crisis: we ask for stability for the country to face the many emergencies with which we live. You cannot have stability with the Five Star Movement in government. The solution is either a Draghi government without the Five Stars, without Conte, or we go to vote,” he added.
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