ITALY:FORMER EUROPEAN Commissioner Mario Monti moved distinctly centre-stage yesterday in the unfolding Italian government crisis, prompted by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Tuesday announcement he will resign as soon as an emergency austerity budget, currently in parliament, is ratified.
Late last night the formation of an “institutional” government led by Prof Monti (68) and supported by the two biggest parties in parliament – Mr Berlusconi’s People Of Freedom (PDL) party and the opposition Democratic Party (PD) – was looking like a serious possibility.
As another hectic day of Roman politicking came to an end, however, the big question concerned what attitude the PDL will take if, as expected, state president Giorgio Napolitano calls on Prof Monti to form such a government.
At this stage, there is no doubt that both the opposition Democratic Party and the Third Pole, comprising the centrist ex-Christian Democrat UDC and the Freedom and Liberty group led by speaker of the Lower House Gianfranco Fini, will support such a coalition.
Likewise, it seems equally clear that, for very different reasons, neither the Northern League nor the Italy Of Values (IDV) party led by former magistrate Antonio Di Pietro will have anything to do with the new, “institutional” government.
The Northern League argues that, if the centre-right majority does not have the numbers to govern, then the country should go to the polls, calling an election within 40 days. Mr Di Pietro says he will have nothing to do with a government comprising Berlusconi PDL elements.
And there, for the time being, is the rub since it is by no means clear which way the PDL will jump. In the morning, Mr Berlusconi appeared to give his blessing to Prof Monti when he sent him a telegram of congratulations on his nomination by President Napolitano late on Wednesday night as a life senator. Later in the day party secretary Angelino Alfano indicated that the party executive favoured an early election rather than a technical government. But he stressed he would wait and see what decisions were taken by Mr Napolitano. Later, after a day of internal party debate, Mr Alfano said: “Berlusconi is still in the field, someone capable of attracting the attention of millions of people.”
On Wednesday speculation about Mr Berlusconi’s future may have contributed to a particularly rough day on the markets for Italy. Partly to reassure investors, Mr Napolitano made two important moves late on the day. Firstly, he reaffirmed that there was no “uncertainty” about Mr Berlusconi’s forthcoming resignation. Secondly, in a surprise move, he nominated Prof Monti a life senator. Duly reassured, the markets were relatively calm yesterday with Milan’s benchmark MIBTel index rallying strongly to close at +0.97 per cent, while the yield on 10-year Italian bonds sank from 7.25 per cent on Wednesday to 6.83 per cent.
Support for a Monti government was also expressed yesterday by the president of Ferrari, Luca Di Montezemolo, by the head of the Confederation of Italian Industry, Emma Marcegaglia, and by Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana.