Appointed Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
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LONDON – Mario Draghi has garnered enough support from Italian lawmakers and is now very likely to lead that country’s next government.
Members of the five-star left-wing movement chose to support Draghi, the prime minister-designate, in an online poll conducted on Thursday, with 59.3% supporting the former head of the European Central Bank. Draghi seems to have a solid majority in Rome and no single party would be able to derail his administration.
He will now face a vote of confidence in Parliament next week and on Friday will present his cabinet to the president.
Draghi was asked to resolve a political crisis in the third largest euro economy. The chaos began when a small party, called Italia Viva, withdrew its support for the fragile coalition government. This meant that the pro-EU Council of Ministers was losing the necessary labor majority in the Italian Parliament, which raised the possibility of quick elections at a time of severe economic and health crisis.
After a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella last week, Draghi agreed to try to form a government of national unity. Famous for rescuing the euro in a sovereign debt crisis, Draghi will face the daunting task of leading his own country’s economic recovery.
A government led by Draghi, even if it is more technocratic than political, would avoid the need for quick elections, which most leading politicians want to avoid. Polls show that the Lega anti-immigration party would win more votes in the election and could form an alliance with the far-right party Brothers of Italy.
Alongside the five-star movement, the centrist Democratic Party and Italia Viva have also supported Draghi. Matteo Renzi, the leader of Viva Italia, told CNBC last week that he believes the country will be in “very good hands” with Draghi.
“I am very happy because today Italy is in very good hands,” Renzi said. “Mario Draghi was the Italian who saved the euro. Now I think he will be the European who will save Italy,” he added.