Italy’s ‘Mr Nobody’ ex-PM Conte is back, gets second shot at governing
- Italy’s president has given the recently resigned premier, Giuseppe Conte, a fresh mandate
- Comes as populist 5-Star Movement and centre-left Democrats form an unlikely alliance
The government that emerges may prove no more stable than the last one.
Conte, 55, has been tasked by Italy’s president with forming a government supported by the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Democratic Party, or PD, two long-time rivals who have little more in common than the desire to avoid snap elections.
The only glue that holds them together: “hatred for the League”, according to League leader Matteo Salvini.
Indeed, their unlikely alliance was spurred by the need to avoid an electoral drubbing from the League after Salvini brought down the previous coalition.
With a commanding lead in the polls, Salvini, 46, was counting on a snap vote to take power himself. Instead, President Sergio Mattarella handed Conte a mandate to form another government.
“This is a very delicate phase for the country,” Conte said.
“We need to exit political uncertainty as quickly as possible.”
Conte had zero political experience before he was drafted 15 months ago to act as mediator between the anti-establishment M5S and the rightist League.
Detractors dubbed him “Mr Nobody”. But Conte, who has no political affiliation but is considered close to M5S, carved out a role for himself.
He has also gathered the confidence of some fellow world leaders. President Donald Trump openly endorsed him for a second term after they chatted at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France last weekend.
But analysts have warned the deal between the M5S – which had sworn never to ally with traditional parties – and the centre-left, which has long loathed it, could quickly crumble.
“Any new government formed by these unlikely bedfellows has the potential to be a fairly short-lived affair, given that the onus will now fall on a new administration to implement new EU mandated spending reductions of up to €23 billion this autumn,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
“These are not expected to be popular and likely to feed into the populist narrative of Matteo Salvini,” he added.
In an early, basic draft of a coalition policy platform, the two sides would ask the EU for flexibility on the 2020 budget deficit to “reinforce social cohesion” in the country, financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore said.
The EU imposes budget rules on member states with the aim of ensuring financial stability in the bloc. It has had a testy relationship with Rome under the outgoing administration, with League leader Salvini blaming the EU rules for impoverishing Italians.
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Salvini had promised swingeing tax cuts for 2020 that economists warned could put unsustainable pressure on Italy’s towering debt mountain.
The prospect of a new administration led by Conte has buoyed markets, which are betting that Italy will get a fiscally prudent government that will avoid confrontation with Europe.
However, a coalition pact is not yet a done deal and the incoming coalition still needs to agree on a shared policy platform and team of ministers.
The tentative accord could still unravel with M5S and the PD yet to agree on other top government posts, besides the prime minister’s position, or reveal a common policy platform.
In an added complication, M5S has said it will put any deal with the PD to an online vote of its members.
Many M5S supporters have taken to social media to denounce a pact with the centre-left and a ‘yes’ vote cannot be taken for granted.
Salvini, meanwhile has said his party was confident it would win eventual new elections next year.
“We’re in no hurry,” he said.
Additional reporting by Reuters and Associated Press
