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Italy’s brittle coalition government looked to have been shattered after Prime Minister Mario Draghi tendered his resignation Thursday. The Associated Press reported his offer came following a refusal by one of his coalition members not to support a bill that would have helped ease the financial strain on consumers and industries struggling with soaring energy prices.
Hours after his offer to resign Italian President Sergio Mattarella declined the offer and asked Draghi to return to Parliament and look to cobble together enough votes to stay on as prime minister.
With President Sergio Mattarella rejection of his resignation Draghi’s next big test for survival is next week when he will have the chance to make a final pitch to lawmakers before a vote of confidence will be held.
Draghi, who has been in power since February 2021, made the announcement after narrowly surviving a confidence vote earlier this week.
The Five Star Movement — a populist party that enjoyed widespread success before souring its support from voters with policy shifts — refused to take part in the vote. Draghi has said repeatedly that he would resign if he lost the support of Five Star.
“I will tender my resignation to the president of the republic this evening,” Draghi told his cabinet. “The national unity coalition that backed this government no longer exists.”
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ROME, ITALY – JULY 12: Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi during the press conference at the Multifunctional Hall of the Prime Minister on July 12, 2022 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Massimo Di Vita/Archivio Massimo Di Vita/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
Five Star’s refusal to take part in the vote raised eyebrows, with some members of the party claiming it was not a reflection on the government, but instead a matter of internal politics and disagreement.
“We are not taking part in the vote on this measure today … but this position of ours is not about confidence in the government,” senate Five Star leader Mariolina Castellone said before the vote.
Despite maintaining his majority without Five Star, Draghi has taken the lack of endorsement as a death knell to his cabinet.
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GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, GERMANY – JUNE 28: Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi speaks to the media on the third and final day of the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau on June 28, 2022 near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Leaders of the G7 group of nations have officially coming together under the motto: “progress towards an equitable world” and will discuss global issues including war, climate change, hunger, poverty and health. Overshadowing this year’s summit is the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Italy is only the latest country experiencing radical challenges to present order politics.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country early on Wednesday, just days after thousands of protesters stormed his residence over the nation’s crippling economic crisis.
Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had both agreed to resign, with the president’s resignation effective on Wednesday. Wickremesinghe said he will step down once a new government is in place, but demonstrators are demanding he resign immediately.
In Japan, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated last week after being shot from behind by a deranged gunman who was upset over Abe’s time in office.
Since 2011 Italy has had six different prime ministers, including Giuseppe Conte who served two different terms in from 2018-2021.
THE Associated Press and contributed to this report.
