Italy’s right rules out returning to government with 5-Star

By Crispian Balmer and Angelo Amante

ROME (Reuters) -Conservative parties in Italy’s fractured coalition ruled out on Tuesday continuing to govern alongside the 5-Star Movement, complicating already difficult efforts to keep Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s administration afloat.

Draghi tendered his resignation last week after the populist 5-Star Movement refused to back the 18-month-old national unity government in a parliamentary confidence vote.

President Sergio Mattarella rejected his resignation and asked him to address parliament on Wednesday, hoping he would find a consensus to stave off early elections at a time of international tumult and economic problems.

Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, has not commented publicly on the crisis since last week and it was not clear if he remained determined to quit, or if he might change his mind and decide to stay on.

The prime minister is due to speak in the upper house Senate at 9.30 a.m. (0730 GMT) with a vote scheduled for 7.30 p.m. (1730 GMT). A debate is also set to take place in the lower house on Thursday. However, Draghi could resign at any time.

He has enough support to remain in office without 5-Star, but he has always rejected that possibility and a source in his office said he was waiting to see whether the party, led by former prime minister Giuseppe Conte, would return to the fold.

Conte has said he is waiting for a signal from Draghi that he is ready to enact some of 5-Star’s policy priorities, such as a minimum wage, before renewing its support for the government.

Further muddying the waters, the League and Forza Italia parties said they no longer wanted to share power with 5-Star, saying the alternative would be early elections in the autumn.

“The party is unwilling to continue working with the unreliable 5-Star,” the League said after a meeting between leader Matteo Salvini and senior lawmakers.

Pressure to stay

The 5-Star has held repeated meetings in recent days to try to decide its strategy, but the often heated discussions have only revealed deep divisions which might be laid bare on Wednesday when parliamentarians vote on Draghi’s speech.

Italian newspapers have speculated that if enough 5-Star lawmakers rallied to the prime minister’s side, he would be willing to continue, even without the backing of Conte.

Draghi comfortably won last week’s confidence vote on a package of measures aimed at alleviating the high cost of living, despite the 5-Star boycott.

It is almost unheard of for a government to fall despite having the backing of parliament, but the prime minister has said his unity coalition cannot continue unless it is united.

However, he has faced growing calls from home and abroad to stay in office until the end of the legislature in 2023 to help maintain European consensus in favour of Ukraine, to tackle surging inflation and counter the energy crisis.

His abrupt resignation has also raised eyebrows in Italy, which is used to political compromise and flexibility.

“Nobody in Europe or the world can understand a government crisis that has emerged in this way,” said centre-left veteran Vincenzo De Luca, who is head of the southern Campania region.

“The government won the confidence vote and the prime minister resigns. It is clear we look like mentally ill people.”

(Additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Giselda Vagnoni, Editing by Angus MacSwan)