Government parties reject vote of confidence in Draghi

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi is on the verge of extinction. Ahead of tonight’s crucial vote of confidence, three important parties in his government have announced that they will not participate in the Senate vote.

Without Lega, Forza Italia and the Five Star Movement, the 74-year-old could not gain as broad approval in the two smaller parliamentary chambers as he had hoped – which he himself has made a condition of continuing to head the government.

Lega and Forza Italia did not want to vote because they wanted to vote on another resolution that would have ruled out the government’s continuation with the Five Star Movement.

After his resignation, which was rejected by the President of the Republic last week, Draghi spoke before the Senate today. He called on all parliamentarians in his multi-party government to put aside their differences and express their confidence in the executive authority for the good of the country. The crisis in Rome escalated because the Five Star Movement did not express confidence in the government – in which it sits as an important party – last week.