Mario Draghi Resigns As Italian PM
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has tendered his resignation on Thursday, the office of President Sergio Mattarella made this known after his national unity coalition government crumbled.
Draghi submitted “his resignation and that of the government he heads,” said the brief statement. The president “took note of this” and the government remained in place to “conduct current business,” the statement added.
The departure of 74 year-old Draghi, a former president of the European Central Bank, deprives Italy of an authoritative leader on the threshold of an unprecedented energy and cost of living crisis, and with a war on Europe’s doorstep.
It marks the culmination of weeks of tensions within Italy’s fractious coalition, which Draghi had tried to run as a government of national unity. After losing the support of the populist 5Star Movement last week, on Wednesday the prime minister lost the backing of the right-wing parties in his alliance – Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini’s League.
He is expected to stay on in a caretaker role until the elections in September or October. The right-wing parties are expected to win that vote and take power as part of a coalition with the national-conservative opposition, Brothers of Italy. But it could take months after the results are known before the new administration is formed.
