Green light for Draghi: all's well that ends well?
In Italy, the Five Star Movement is now also willing to join a government led by the former ECB chief Draghi. The members of comedian Beppe Grillo's party voted on the move on Thursday, with 59.3 percent in favour. But commentators doubt that the risk of instability and blockades has been banished, and are already sizing up the next elections.
Progressives must show discipline
It's not all love, peace and harmony after M5S's online vote, Il Manifesto warns:
“It is precisely this split in the largest parliamentary group that stands to rob the future prime minister of his sleep. ... Yet there is another aspect else we should take into consideration. As soon as Draghi has done his job, parliamentary elections will be held again and the centre-right will be united. The progressive forces will only be able to oppose their rival to the extent that they can maintain a joint front in the years to come.”
Leaving the dirty work to Mario
The Five Star Movement and Salvini's Lega are backing the technocratic government for tactical reasons, Új Szó suspects:
“Because of the party's low approval ratings, the leadership of the Five Star Movement feared the prospect of an early election. Matteo Salvini's situation is similar; so he too opted to support a Draghi government. Italy's main political players are probably hoping that 'Super Mario', who is already relatively old and no longer has any political ambitions, will do the hard work that needs to be done and then they will reap the benefits in the next election.”
Grand coalitions are a symptom of crisis
Der Tagesspiegel also isn't convinced that Italy getting a new government relatively quickly is good news:
“The Draghi government will not be stable. And more than any previous 'technocratic' government - which is a pious lie anyway - it will usher in a democratic decline. Giant coalitions are not a sign of unity but a symptom of crisis. A democracy without alternatives is no democracy at all. However, this democratic crisis isn't only taking place in Rome. It is simply more visible there.”
The new mission is the same as the old one
It is not only Italy that is pinning its hopes on Mario Draghi, explains Dagens Nyheter:
“He has already done it once: saved the euro. Now the mission is basically the same. Draghi is supposed to get the country's economy up and running again and thereby ensure the survival of the single currency. ... Italy's traditional parties were destroyed by a corruption scandal in the 1990s. Tragically, a responsible bourgeois movement never emerged from the ruins of those times, and the ex-communist left cannot be trusted to run the country either. As ECB chief, Mario Draghi always demanded reforms from national governments - a central bank can't solve all the problems. Now the ball is in his - and his more or less unreliable political associates' - court. Both Italy and the EU are hoping that he will succeed.”