During these past weeks, if you have been looking at the Italian news you would have heard of the Italian government crisis. Now you may be wondering, what exactly happened, who was involved and what impact is this going to have on Italy’s future? In this post I will try and answer these questions and to inform you on what might happen in the near future!
What Happened?
Before we delve into the crisis we need to understand what led up to it. For months, Matteo Renzi, a former Prime Minister of Italy and Italian politician often dubbed the, ‘great hope of Italy,’ had been criticising Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s €222 billion post-virus recovery plan, which is mostly paid for by grants from the European Union’s special COVID-19 fund. His main critiques being that too much tax-payer and EU fund money is being put towards tax-breaks and handouts rather than investing in long-term structural reforms that will help with all the economic aftershocks the pandemic will most likely bring. Against all of these concerns, Prime Minister Conte’s plan received parliamentary approval for his plan on Wednesday 13th January.
To show his disapproval and to force his political rival into a corner, Renzi called for the withdrawal of two ministers from his small but influential party, Italia Viva. Why is this such a big problem? Well, the government in charge of Italy at this moment is not an elected government but a technical government. This is a group of political parties which have allied to govern the country. The dismissal of Renzi’s two ministers means that the governing party, Democratic Party, no longer has a majority.
So what is going to happen next?
How Will This Affect the Country
It is unsure what will occur as a result of this move from Renzi but there are three main options:
A new election would need to be called, re-establishing one singular governing power in Italy rather than the technical government we have had since the last election. Like most of these solutions, this would cause unnecessary chaos during an international crisis that Italy is struggling with already.
Conte could resign. Italy’s president would then ask an Italian politician with enough support, possibly Conte again, to build a new government with parliamentary approval. Once again, this would cause too big a disruption and would leave Italy without a leader for a few days in a time where it desperately needs one.
The final, most stable solution would be for Conte to find new political allies so the Democratic Party is once again a majority and the government continues to function much the same way it was before. This seems to be the option Italian politicians are favouring, seeing as it would cause the least disruption and maintain a constant during a crisis. However without Renzi’s support it is unclear which party could provide Conte with the edge he needs to maintain a majority.
However, the most important thing to remember is that, although this might seem like a trying time, Italy will pull through. Italy has always had a history of unstable governments and power-plays such as this one, however, they have always been solved and Italy has managed to get through. Furthermore, should the situation get too drastic or dangerous for Italy’s economy, the European Union would be forced to step in as allowing Italy to crumble will only cause harm for the other nations in the EU.
The most important thing to remember is to look at the news and keep informed.
Hope this helped!
-Vittoria Sacchi Lodispoto
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