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Italy’s Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, Resigns, Turning Chaos Into Uncertainty Italy’s Government Collapses, Turning Chaos Into Crisis
(about 4 hours later)
ROME — Italy’s nationalist government collapsed on Tuesday as the country’s prime minister announced his resignation in the face of a mutinous power play by the hard-line and increasingly popular interior minister, Matteo Salvini. ROME — After 14 months of bickering, Italy’s government collapsed on Tuesday, plunging a key European nation already hobbled by financial fragility and political chaos into a renewed period of crisis and uncertainty.
“The interior minister followed personal and party interests,” by calling for elections and pulling his support from the government, said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte as he addressed an extraordinary session of Parliament that interrupted the usually sacrosanct Italian summer recess. During the government’s short tenure, the nationalist-populist coalition struck fear into the heart of the European establishment. It antagonized the European Union, flouted its budgetary laws, demonized migrants and embraced President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia and his strongman politics.
With Mr. Salvini seated beside him with raised chin, Mr. Conte took aim, accusing him of “political opportunism,” disregard for Italy’s institutions and thrusting the country into a “vortex of political uncertainty and financial instability.” But any relief could be short-lived among critics who have accused the government of isolating and weakening Italy as it drastically reoriented the country’s place in Europe.
Circumventing a confidence vote that Mr. Salvini had promoted, Mr. Conte said he would go to the Quirinal Hill and tender his resignation to Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella. The government coalition of the hard-right, anti-migrant League party and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement came apart after a mutinous power play by Matteo Salvini, the League leader and the country’s increasingly popular interior minister.
Mr. Salvini responded, saying that he would do everything the same again and did not fear the judgment of the Italians, unlike others in the Parliament who were simply frightened that elections would lead them to lose their jobs. “We aren’t scared,” he said. This month, Mr. Salvini, 46, announced that he was fed up with the Five Star’s incompetence and inaction and made a bid for early elections, asking Italian voters to give him unrestrained power to consolidate his grip on the country.
Mr. Salvini may yet get his wish. But for now there remains the chance that his lengthening list of political enemies could form a new coalition government that freezes him out of power. At least immediately, things haven’t gone as Mr. Salvini had planned.
In an extraordinary session of Parliament Tuesday that interrupted the usually sacrosanct Italian summer recess, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte accused Mr. Salvini, seated beside him with chin raised, of ‘‘political opportunism’’ for pulling his support from the government in hopes of taking power for himself.
The betrayal had thrust the country into a “vortex of political uncertainty and financial instability,” Mr. Conte said. Rather than bothering with a confidence vote that Mr. Salvini had pushed on him, the prime minister said he would tender his resignation to Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, collapsing the government and leaving Mr. Salvini with no immediate path to power.
Mr. Mattarella will now begin the process of consulting with party leaders to see if a new majority can form yet another Italian government. If not, he is likely to call for early elections, potentially as soon as October.Mr. Mattarella will now begin the process of consulting with party leaders to see if a new majority can form yet another Italian government. If not, he is likely to call for early elections, potentially as soon as October.
The demise of the coalition between the hard-right, anti-migrant League party, led by Mr. Salvini, and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement thrust Italy into a renewed period of crisis and political chaos only 445 days after the unlikely partners took power. Mr. Salvini responded that he did not fear the judgment of Italians, unlike others in Parliament who were, he said, clinging to their jobs out of fear of losing elections. “We aren’t scared,” he said.
During the government’s short tenure, the nationalist-populist coalition struck fear into the heart of the European establishment, with its antagonism toward the European Union, its flouting of the bloc’s budgetary laws, its demonization of migrants, and its embrace of President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia and his strongman politics. “If good God and the Italian people will let me come back to the government,” Mr. Salvini said in the Senate, as he spoke proudly of his closing of Italy’s ports to migrants, “I’ll do it again.”
While expressing regret that the government could not continue to compile achievements, which its critics consider all but nonexistent, Mr. Conte vented his anger at Mr. Salvini. Since the March 2018 election that brought them to power, Mr. Salvini and his Five Star counterpart, Luigi Di Maio, had turned the country into a social media reality show, incessantly speechifying and bickering via Facebook Live or Twitter over their opposite positions on infrastructure projects, taxes, regional autonomy and even beach holidays.
With the leader of the Five Star Movement, Luigi Di Maio, hardly able to suppress his glee as he sat on Mr. Conte’s left, the prime minister accused Mr. Salvini of exploiting Catholic symbols on the campaign trail and of failing to answer accusations that his League party had secretly sought funding from Russia. On Tuesday, Mr. Di Maio, 33, could hardly suppress his glee as Mr. Conte, standing between him and Mr. Salvini, accused the interior minister of exploiting Catholic symbols on the campaign trail and of failing to answer accusations that his League party had secretly sought funding from Russia.
He questioned Mr. Salvini’s failure to leave the government despite expressing his lack of confidence in it.
“Dear Matteo, pushing this crisis you have assumed a great responsibility,” Mr. Conte said, adding that he “was worried” by Mr. Salvini’s request for full powers and for his supporters to fill the country’s squares in protest.“Dear Matteo, pushing this crisis you have assumed a great responsibility,” Mr. Conte said, adding that he “was worried” by Mr. Salvini’s request for full powers and for his supporters to fill the country’s squares in protest.
Mr. Salvini and his Five Star counterpart, Mr. Di Maio, turned the country into a social media reality show, incessantly speechifying and bickering via Facebook Live or Twitter over their opposite positions on infrastructure projects, taxes, regional autonomy and even beach holidays. Over the past year, Mr. Salvini’s popularity has doubled to nearly 40 percent, considered a ceiling in Italy’s fragmented politics, as he has consistently outflanked and embarrassed the inexperienced Five Star Movement.
In the meantime, the country became isolated in Europe and its financial situation darkened. Five Star’s support halved, making elections perilous for its members’ continued employment in Parliament.
Growth hovered around 0 percent and the government proved paralyzed or ineffectual in the face of dizzying youth unemployment and public debt of more than 2 trillion euros about $2.2 trillion, more than 130 percent of Italy’s annual economic output. The yield spread between Italian and German 10-year benchmark bonds, considered a metric of risk for investment in Italy, has stayed high through much of their tenure. As Mr. Salvini’s support increased, he has eschewed Italy’s traditional alliances for closer relations with nationalists in Hungary, Poland and Russia. In the meantime, the country’s financial situation has darkened.
But any relief expressed by critics of the government could be short lived. Growth has hovered around zero percent, and the government proved ineffectual in the face of dizzying youth unemployment and a public debt of more than 2 trillion euros about $2.2 trillion that represents more than 130 percent of Italy’s annual economic output.
If Mr. Salvini does get the election he so craves, and if he performs as well as polls suggest, he could consolidate his grip on power and cement his reputation as the most powerful and for critics, destructive nationalist leader in Europe. The yield spread between Italian and German 10-year benchmark bonds, considered a metric of risk for investment in Italy, has stayed high through much of their tenure.
It is with that goal of elections in mind that Mr. Salvini, and not the opposition, called for a no-confidence vote in the government. This month, Mr. Salvini used the government’s paralysis on infrastructure projects as a rationale to announce the death of the government “the majority is no more,” he said and call for new elections. “Let’s hear from the voters, quickly,” he said.
Over the last year, Mr. Salvini’s popularity has doubled to nearly 40 percent, considered a ceiling in Italy’s fragmented politics, as he has consistently outflanked and embarrassed the inexperienced, and often incompetent, Five Star Movement. That is something the Five Star Movement, and many of Mr. Salvini’s other rivals, are not eager for at a moment when the interior minister’s popularity is riding so high. The prospect of elections has increased their incentive to strike a deal of their own to govern.
Five Star’s support halved, making elections perilous for its members’ continued employment in Parliament. This month Mr. Salvini used the government’s paralysis on infrastructure projects as a rationale to announce the death of the government “the majority is no more,” he said as he called for new elections. “Let’s hear from the voters, quickly,” he said. Feeling betrayed by Mr. Salvini, the Five Star Movement has seemed increasingly open to an alliance with its longtime rivals in the center-left Democratic Party.
But for the usually politically adroit Mr. Salvini, it turned out to be a rare, and potentially costly, misstep. For all his public support, Parliament amounted to a parallel universe where endangered and defunct forces still held sway.
The Five Star Movement, feeling betrayed by Mr. Salvini and dreading elections that would likely send many of its members of Parliament packing, has made itself open to an alliance with the Democratic Party. But whether they can overcome their mutual animosity and differences to form a majority is anyone’s guess.
For years, Mr. Di Maio and former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, still a power broker inside the Democratic Party, have been sworn enemies. Now, however, they may find common cause in avoiding new elections, staying in Parliament and depriving Mr. Salvini of his power and campaign-friendly perch as interior minister.For years, Mr. Di Maio and former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, still a power broker inside the Democratic Party, have been sworn enemies. Now, however, they may find common cause in avoiding new elections, staying in Parliament and depriving Mr. Salvini of his power and campaign-friendly perch as interior minister.
Mr. Salvini who had triggered the crisis by calling for a confidence vote against Mr. Conte seemed to realize that early elections may not be in the offing, and spent the last days backtracking and expressing his willingness to support Mr. Conte in the hopes that the government he tried to collapse would instead stand, and with him in it. But whether the two can overcome their mutual animosity to form a majority is still unclear and is the subject of behind-the-scenes negotiations.
In a dramatic reversal, Italy’s most popular, and now chastened, politician was reduced to trying to make up with the Five Star Movement to avoid the crisis. Instead of becoming prime minister himself, speculation in Rome focused on him supporting, as a peace offering, Mr. Di Maio as prime minister. Mr. Renzi, speaking in the Senate, argued that while populism works well on the campaign trail, “it works less good when we are dealing with governing.” He also took a parting shot at Mr. Salvini, who he said owed it to Italians to make it clear if he wanted to “leave the euro, or enter the ruble.”
On Tuesday, Mr. Conte did not even give him the chance and resigned before the no confidence vote. Mr. Renzi spent the past few years vowing never to join forces with Five Star, accusing it of spreading hate, misinformation and a dangerous anti-expertise ethos.
The Five Star Movement, with which the nominally independent Mr. Conte is much more closely associated, instead wanted to end the relationship with the League. But in recent days he has changed his tune as an alliance with Five Star may now provide an oxygen tank for a remarkable political resuscitation.
The Democratic Party’s Mr. Renzi, who had spent the last years vowing never to join forces with Five Star, accusing it of spreading hate, misinformation and a dangerous anti-expertise ethos, changed his tune dramatically. For him, an alliance with Five Star may now provide an oxygen tank for a remarkable political resuscitation. Mr. Mattarella, the head of state who is imbued with enormous powers during a government crisis, also has his motivations for avoiding early elections, which the Italian Constitution says should be a last resort.
Mr. Renzi wasn’t the only Italian political figure reanimated by the crisis. It also jolted energy into the moribund Forza Italia party of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The most pressing reason is the need for a government that can avoid an automatic hike in sales taxes by approving budget cuts to balance out Italy’s expensive programs and extraordinary debt by the end of the year.
Eager to avoid elections that would erase their representation in Parliament, the party is considering lending support to a Five Star and Democratic Party government with a more Forza Italia-friendly prime minister. If no new political majority forms, Mr. Mattarella can appeal to Parliament’s institutional figures, including the speakers of both houses, to try to form a government that can survive a confidence vote.
To the chagrin of Mr. Salvini, Mr. Mattarella, the head of state who is imbued with enormous powers during a government crisis, also had his motives for avoiding early elections, which the Italian Constitution says should be a last resort. Another option is for Mr. Mattarella to empower a technical government of nonpartisan experts, which, once validated by a confidence vote, would also have the ability to pass a budget and govern.
If Italy doesn’t approve budget cuts to balance out its expensive programs and extraordinary debt by Dec. 31, a financial safeguard mechanism will automatically raise value added tax on all purchases, devastating the spending power of Italian families. If those options proved impossible, Mr. Mattarella could install a time-limited government to shepherd Italy through early elections, most likely in October or November, but probably denying it the time to devise a budget plan.
If no new political majority forms, Mr. Mattarella can appeal to Parliament’s institutional powers, including the speakers of both houses, to try and form a government that can survive a confidence vote. Meanwhile, Italy, already struggling financially and seeing its influence decline abroad, finds itself in a mess of its own making. And the crisis is likely to fuel the forces that have made Mr. Salvini the most popular, if no longer powerful, politician in the country.
If such a government emerges, it would be empowered to pass a budget to avoid the tax hike. Another option is that Mr. Mattarella empowers a technical government of nonpartisan experts, which, once validated by a confidence vote, would also have the ability to pass a budget and govern. Mr. Salvini’s support “won’t disappear overnight,” said Giovanni Orsina, a political scientist at Luiss, a university in Rome.
If those options proved impossible, Mr. Mattarella could install a time-limited government to shepherd Italy through early elections, most likely in October or November, which would not have the time or latitude to prevent the tax hike. The League leader’s political opponents, he said, were betting they could sap Mr. Salvini’s support and momentum by delaying elections long enough for Italians to grow tired of him.
In the meantime, Italy, already struggling financially with decreased influence abroad, finds itself in a mess of its own making. That plan, he said, could backfire and increase Mr. Salvini’s public support. “If there’s one things voters don’t like,” he said, “it is to feel their opinion doesn’t matter.”