Ahead of the Day of Truth in Parliament, the pressure from home and abroad on the prime minister to withdraw his resignation is increasing. But instability also threatens his continued government.
Hectic negotiations took place on Tuesday in politicians’ villas and back rooms in Rome’s trendiest restaurants, over coffee and light menus adapted to the heat. Mobile phones rang non-stop, some politicians used the international attention to distinguish themselves at press conferences. Meanwhile, EU capitals looked nervously at the elegant Government Palace Chigi, where the country’s political destiny was being decided. The crisis threatened to plunge the already battered euro into new turmoil.
But host Mario Draghi reacted to the unrest as one would expect from him: taciturn. Or rather: Publicly he said nothing at all. He showed no emotion despite the many requests from home and abroad not to give up his job as prime minister in parliament on Wednesday in order to spare Italy and Europe a crisis with an uncertain outcome and the 200 billion euros in EU corona aid for Italy to jeopardize those tied to reforms. Since Draghi announced his resignation last Thursday, politicians from all over the world have been calling him. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sànchez even published an editorial on “Politico”: “Europe needs a leader like Draghi,” he wrote.