After the fall of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government, political alliances also crumbled. The Italian Social Democrats (Partito Democratico/PD), who had ruled Italy with the populist Five Star Movement since August 2019, accuse their coalition partner of treason. The Five Star Movement had turned its back on Draghi last week. PD leader and former prime minister Enrico Letta is trying to become his political heir.
The Five Star Movement, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia, and former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini’s right-wing Lega all refused to trust Draghi in the Senate on Wednesday. President Sergio Mattarella then dissolved Parliament; New elections will take place on September 25th.
“No alliance is possible with the parties that betrayed Draghi”, emphasized PD leader Letta. “In the coming days we will present our electoral program to Italy, we will see who wants to ally with us”, said Letta. The social democrat wants to be inspired by Draghi’s political agenda when it comes to the electoral program.
The innocent Berlusconi
Berlusconi sees no blame in his party for Draghi’s resignation. “We are not to blame for what happened, absolutely none,” said the 85-year-old founder of Forza Italia in an interview with the newspaper “Corriere della Sera” (Friday edition). In his opinion, Draghi should not have resigned because Forza Italia did not vote against him in a vote of confidence in the Senate, but abstained from voting. “Draghi had no desire to continue governing. He took the opportunity to resign”, Berlusconi analyzed the situation.
But not even close confidants believe Berlusconi’s arguments. The minister responsible for southern Italy, Mara Carfagna, stated that she wanted to distance herself from Forza Italia. His party colleague Renato Brunetta, Minister of Public Administration, and the Minister of Regions Maria Stella Gelmini have already announced that they will leave Berlusconi’s party, to which they belonged for more than 20 years. “These are people with no political future,” Berlusconi commented on the break with his confidants.
Return of Luigi Di Maio
Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, who left the Five Star Movement a month ago, now wants to participate in the new elections with his own Juntos pelo Futuro (Insieme per il Futuro, IPF) party. “It is the first time in the history of the Republic that we are going to vote in September and the Italians are not very happy about it,” said Di Maio.
There have already been government crises in the summer. In August 2019, Lega boss Salvini split from the Five Star Movement, which led to the fall of the first government around Giuseppe Conte. However, the Five Star Movement then formed an alliance with the Social Democrats, which allowed the formation of the second Conte government. Italy could thus be spared new elections. Parliamentary elections in the autumn are new to Italy. Since the founding of the Italian Republic after World War II, Italians have voted consistently between February and June.