President Sergio Mattarella announced
on Thursday that he had signed a decree to dissolve parliament
for a general election to be held within 70 days.
The head of State said she he had made the decision because he
saw no prospect of another ruling majority being formed
following the resignation of outgoing Premier Mario Draghi.
Draghi quit after three of the big parties in his coalition,
Matteo Salvini's right-wing League, ex-premier Silvio
Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) and the 5-Star Movement (M5S),
failed to take part in a confidence vote in the Senate on a
resolution backing him on Wednesday.
September 25 is seen as a possible date for the vote.
There had been concerns that this could clash with a Jewish
holiday but the nation's Jewish Community said Thursday that
holding the election on this day would not be a problem for
them.
The president's office has said that the outgoing government
will stay in office for everyday administration for the time
being.
Addressing the Lower House before meeting Mattarella to resign,
the former president of the European Central Bank thanked the
lawmakers present, most of whom had supported his government of
national unity over the last year and a half.
He appeared relaxed and cheerful, after tense moments on
Wednesday during his reply to criticism of his call for the
parties to renew the "pact of trust" that his government was
based on, when he had to deny having asked to be given "full
powers".
"Sometimes even the hearts of central bankers get used," he
quipped, referring to a recent joke he made about a transplant
recipient preferring the heart of a central banker to that of
another donor because it had 'never been used'.
"Thank you for all the work done in this period".
Draghi basically confirmed the resignation he presented last
week when the M5S snubbed a confidence vote on a decree,
sparking a crisis of government.
Mattarella initially reused to accept the resignation, telling
Draghi to report to parliament, which he did on Wednesday.
Draghi made an appeal to patch up his coalition on Wednesday
after an array of calls for him to stay on, given the
difficulties Italy currently faces, from business leaders,
mayors, health workers and other groups.
Among other things, Rome has more reforms to deliver to be able
to get the next tranches of almost 200 billion euros in EU
grants and low-interest loans for its post-COVID National
Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).
"We are not like the others, we decided to choose (what's best
for) Italy," said Enrico Letta, the leader of the centre-left
Democratic Party (PD).
"Parliament went against the country but we showed that we are
focused on the interest of the country and the voters will
rewards us".
On Wednesday M5S leader and ex-premier Giuseppe Conte defended
his movement's role in the collapse of the government, saying
Draghi had "shown us the door" by refusing to listen to their
demands.
Civil Service Minister Renato Brunetta said Thursday that he was
quitting FI after the centre-right group helped bring down the
government.
His exit follows that of another high-profile, long-standing FI
figure, Regional Affairs Minister Mariastella Gelmini, who quit
on Wednesday, saying the party had turned its back on families
and firms and given in to League leader Matteo Salvini.
"Those who put partisan interests ahead of the interests of the
country at such a grave time are irresponsible," Brunetta said.
"The increasingly tight-knit leadership of Forza Italia have
splayed themselves to the worst form of nationalist populism,
sacrificing a champion like Draghi, the pride of Italy around
the world, on the altar of the most short-sighted electoral
opportunism".
Italy looks set to have early elections within months following
the collapse of Draghi's government.
The right/centre-right coalition made up of Brothers of Italy
(FdI), the only major party that did not back Draghi's
government of national unity, the League and FI is expected to
win the election.
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