The 2021 Italian government crisis was a political event in Italy that began in January 2021 and ended the following month. It includes the events that follow the announcement of Matteo Renzi, leader of Italia Viva (IV) and former Prime Minister, that he would revoke IV's support to the Government of Giuseppe Conte.Conte offre un patto, Renzi ritira le ministre. La crisi è servita , Huffington Post Italia
On 18 and 19 January, confidence votes were held in both Houses of Parliament; the Government managed to win both, but fell short of an absolute majority in the Senate due to IV Senators abstaining.Italy's Conte wins Senate vote to keep fragile government afloat: final tally, Reuters
On 26 January, Conte offered his resignation as Prime Minister; President Sergio Mattarella consequently started consultations for the formation of a new Government, which ultimately resulted in Mario Draghi being sworn in as Prime Minister on 13 February.Italy: Ex-EU bank chief Mario Draghi sworn in as PM, Deutsche Welle
Background
The 2018 general election produced a hung parliament. After long negotiations, a coalition was finally formed on 1 June between two populist parties, centrist Five Star Movement (M5S) and right-wing League, led by the M5S-linked independent Giuseppe Conte as Prime Minister. This coalition ended with Conte's resignation on 20 August 2019 after the League withdrew its support of the government. In September 2019, a new government was formed between the M5S and two left-wing parties, the Democratic Party (PD) and Free and Equal (LeU), retaining Giuseppe Conte at its head. On 16 September, a few days from the investiture vote, in an interview with la Repubblica, former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his intention to leave the PD, launching a new centrist and liberal party named Italia Viva (IV). In the interview, he confirmed continued support of Conte's government. Two ministers, Teresa Bellanova and Elena Bonetti, and one undersecretary, Ivan Scalfarotto, followed Renzi to his new movement.
Political crisis
Between December 2020 and January 2021, discussions arose within the government coalition between Conte and Matteo Renzi, former Prime Minister and leader of Italia Viva.A un passo dalla crisi di governo: Renzi pronto a ritirare le ministre. Ecco gli scenari possibili, Open Online Renzi called for radical changes to the government's economic recovery plans after the COVID-19 pandemic, and also demanded that Conte cede his mandate over the secret services coordination task.Italian government totters as Conte, Renzi divide deepens, Reuters During his end-of-year press conference, Conte declined Renzi's requests, asserting that he still had a majority in the Parliament.Governo, Conte sfida Renzi: 'Se si sfila andiamo in aula. Sul Recovery non va bene: dobbiamo correre', la Repubblica
On 13 January, during a press conference, Renzi announced the resignation of IV's two ministers, effectively triggering the collapse of Conte's government. Renzi stated: "We will not allow any Prime Minister to have full and unrestricted powers. [...] We are facing a dramatic emergency, but a Government should not be kept alive just because of that. If we are to build a serious response to the pandemic, we must unblock construction sites and act on industrial policies. There is a reason that in Italy we the highest number of deaths and an ever-collapsing GDP"Matteo Renzi annuncia dimissioni ministre IV e attacca il governo, ANSA
During a late-night Council of Ministers, Conte strongly criticised Renzi, stating that "Italia Viva has assumed the serious responsibility of opening a government crisis. I am sincerely sorry for the considerable damage that has been done to our country by a government crisis in the midst of a pandemic. [...] The gravity of this decision cannot be diminished."La crisi di governo, Conte in Cdm: "Grave responsabilità Iv, danno a Paese". Zingaretti: "Crisi con 500 morti, da Iv atto gravissimo contro l'Italia", la Repubblica The Prime Minister was soon backed by the secretary of the Democratic Party, Nicola Zingaretti, who labeled the crisis as a "very serious mistake against Italy" and "an act against our country",Crisi di governo, Zingaretti: «Un atto gravissimo contro l'Italia». Salvini e Meloni: ora elezioni, Corriere della Sera while the Minister of Culture, Dario Franceschini, head of the Democratic delegation in the government, stated: "Whoever attacks the Prime Minister, attacks the entire government; Giuseppe Conte has been serving the country with passion and dedication against the most serious challenges we've ever faced in the history of our Republic".Crisi, il governo fa quadrato intorno a Conte. Franceschini: “Un attacco a tutti noi”. Speranza: “Avanti al suo fianco”. Fraccaro: “Inconcepibile”, Il Fatto Quotidiano The Minister of Foreign Affairs and former leader of the M5S, Luigi Di Maio, described Renzi's decision as a "reckless move", asserting that "Prime Minister Conte and President Sergio Mattarella are the only two pillars Italy has in this moment of uncertainty"; while Roberto Speranza, Minister of Health and de facto leader of Free and Equal (LeU), said that Conte "has served the country with discipline and honor", adding that LeU still supported him.In questi mesi Giuseppe Conte ha servito il Paese con disciplina ed onore. Avanti al suo fianco, Roberto Speranza – Twitter Moreover, many other prominent members of the cabinet like Stefano Patuanelli, Alfonso Bonafede, Vincenzo Spadafora and Riccardo Fraccaro expressed their support to Conte.Il Pd e il Movimento Cinque Stelle vogliono andare avanti con Conte, Fanpage The opposition leaders, Matteo Salvini and Giorgia Meloni, immediately asked for snap elections.
On 15 January, Conte announced that he would report about the government crisis in Parliament in the following week. On that occasion, he would also seek for a confidence vote to understand whether his Government still enjoyed parliamentary support.
Vote of confidence in Conte's Government On 18 January, the Chamber of Deputies passed a motion of confidence in the Government with 321 votes in favour, 259 against and 27 abstentions.Crisi di governo, via libera della Camera alla fiducia a Conte con 321 voti. Il premier: "Strappo con Iv incancellabile". Polverini vota sì e lascia Forza Italia, la Repubblica The next day, the Government won a confidence vote in the Senate as well, but fell short of the 161 votes needed to achieved an absolute majority. Of the 312 Senators present, 156 voted in favor and 140 against, while 16 abstained;Crisi di governo, sì del Senato alla fiducia con 156 voti. Ma scoppia il caso Ciampolillo. Sì dei forzisti Rossi e Causin. Meloni e Salvini: "Ci rivolgeremo al Colle", la RepubblicaIl Senato vota la fiducia a Conte: il Governo ha la maggioranza relativa con 156 sì, Fanpage
In both houses of Parliament, Italia Viva abstained. The Government also received support from a few MPs belonging to opposition parties, such as three MPs from Forza Italia and one from More Europe.
18–19 January 2021Confidence votes for Conte II CabinetHouse of ParliamentVotePartiesVotesChamber of Deputies Yes No Abstention Senate of the Republic Yes No Abstention
Resignation of Conte and consultations
On 26 January, after a few days of inconclusive negotiations with centrist and independent senators to regain an absolute majority in the Senate, Conte resigned as Prime Minister.Crisi di governo, Conte si dimette: "Grazie a ogni singolo ministro". Alle 12 sale al Quirinale e spera nel 'Ter'. La regia passa a Mattarella, la RepubblicaItaly's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to resign, BBC On the following day, a new parliamentary group, known as Europeanists, was formed in the Senate in support of Conte.Al Senato nasce il gruppo dei responsabili: si chiama "Europeisti", TGCOM 24 The group was composed by members of the Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE) and other centrist and liberal senators.
On 27 January, the consultations with President Sergio Mattarella for the formation of a new cabinet began at the Quirinal Palace, meeting the presidents of the two houses, senator Elisabetta Casellati and Roberto Fico.Al via le consultazioni, Mattarella saluta i giornalisti, ANSA
On 28 January, President Mattarella met the delegations of For the Autonomies, Free and Equal and the new-born Europeanists, which confirmed their supports to Conte, as well as various MPs of the Mixed Group.Governo, Causin (Europeisti): “Conte è elemento di attrazione, non escludiamo un partito. Italia Viva? Fa la schifiltosa ma è nata come noi”, Il Fatto Quotidiano Matteo Renzi, which was received in the afternoon along with Italia Viva's delegation, opened to a new government with the same old majority, but he opposed giving the task of forming a new cabinet to Conte,Governo: secondo giorno di consultazioni. Renzi: 'Dopo i veti ci dicano se ci vogliono', ANSA while Nicola Zingaretti, leader of the PD, stressed the necessity of starting a new government with Conte at its head.Consultazioni, Zingaretti: "Pd sostiene incarico a Conte, è punto di sintesi", la Repubblica
On 29 January, high-ranking members of the centre-right coalition (a conservative alliance between the League (Lega), Brothers of Italy (FdI), Forza Italia (FI) and other minor parties) met with President Mattarella. Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, asked for a snap election, but added that, under specific conditions, the centre-right could support a national unity government.Centrodestra a Mattarella: incarico esplorativo al presidente Casellati, TgCom 24 Mattarella also spoke with interim leader of the Five Star Movement (M5S) Vito Crimi, who said he was open to grant of Matteo Renzi's requests in exchange for IV's support for new Conte-led Government.Crimi “Pronti a confronto anche con Italia Viva, ma serve lealtà”, Il Tempo Alessandro Di Battista, leader of the anti-establishment wing of the M5S, criticized this statement, asserting he would leave the party if the latter agreed to allow Renzi's party back into the Government.Governo, alleanza con Renzi? Di Battista ai M5S: «Arrivederci e grazie», Corriere della Sera
Further negotiations and Draghi's mandate
At the end of the consultations, Mattarella gave President of the Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico the task of verifying whether a new Government, backed with the same majority of the previous one (that is, a coalition between M5S, PD, IV and LeU) could be formed.Mattarella: “Possibile conferma della maggioranza attuale, va verificata”. Fico convocato al Quirinale, Il Fatto Quotidiano
On the deadline day of 2 February, IV broke away from the majority due to disagreements on both platform and cabinet members; Fico consequently reported to Mattarella that an agreement had not been reached. Mattarella consequently decided to invite Mario Draghi for the next day at the Quirinal Palace with the intention to offer him the task to form a national unity technocratic government. On 3 February, Draghi officially accepted with reservation the task of forming a new cabinet and started consulting with the Presiding Officers of the two Houses of Parliament.Crisi governo, Draghi accetta l'incarico: "Vincere pandemia e rilanciare il Paese"., Sky Tg24 On the same day, he also met Giuseppe Conte,Governo, Draghi incaricato. Colloquio di un'ora con Conte. Crimi: 'Ipotesi voto Rousseau non da trascurare', ANSA who officially endorsed him the following day.Giuseppe Conte scende in campo. E si autodichiara federatore , Huffington Post
On 10 February Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi jointly announced, after a meeting, their support for Draghi. On the same day, FDI leader Giorgia Meloni distanced herself from Salvini and Berlusconi's statement, reaffirming her opposition to a Draghi-led Government.Meloni attacca Salvini: "Non voterò la fiducia a Draghi, a lui Pd e la Boldrini vanno bene?", Internazionale