Italy has a new prime minister; the seventh in the last 10 years. For a while, Italy always seemed to be in the process of forming a new administration. Despite the seemingly revolving doors at Palazzo Chigi, Italian institutions are reasonably resilient. Many other countries would have struggled with such changes; in this case, Galileo’s observation seems to be very apt: “Eppur si muove”.
The collapse of Giuseppe Conte government’s over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout led President Sergio Mattarella to summon Mario Draghi to the Quirinale and task him with forming a new administration. The centre and the centre-left quickly lent their support.
They were later joined by Matteo Salvini’s Lega and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia. The Five Star Movement’s membership voted overwhelmingly in favour of joining the new coalition.
Draghi is, undoubtedly, one of the most well-known Italian leaders. He led the European Central Bank with great competence between 2011 and 2019 and was instrumental in saving the euro currency. He has earned himself the nickname ‘Super Mario’. He pledged to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro – and he did not disappoint.
His appointment may leave some feeling uncomfortable. The Jesuit-educated leader is yet another technocratic appointee, raising questions of a democratic deficit at the heart of government. He was described as an “apostle of the elite”, leading a government born in the “laboratories of the Quirinale”.
There is something extremely Jesuitical about his appointment. Nonetheless, he remains one of the most competent persons to lead Italy at this particular time.
Born in 1947, Draghi’s father was a banker and his mother was a pharmacist. He received his education alongside Luca Cordero di Montezemolo – the famed businessman and former Ferrari CEO – and he furthered his studies at various prestigious universities, including Rome’s La Sapienza and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
His academic career was followed by long stints in the world of finance. He advised various Italian governments and served different prime ministers from across the political divide – from Giulio Andreotti to Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Giuliano Amato, Berlusconi, Lamberto Dini, Romano Prodi and Massimo D’Alema. He was considered to be the mastermind behind various privatisation projects pursued by these different administrations.
Mario Draghi’s stewardship of Italy will bring about some changes on a European level- André DeBattista
In 2005, he took over as governor of Italy’s Central Bank. He stayed in this role until he was appointed president of the European Central Bank in 2011. At the height of the euro crisis, his “whatever it takes” was, perhaps, an unpopular but necessary standpoint. The failure of the single currency would have been catastrophic to the European economy. For his efforts, he was named ‘Man of the Year’ by the Financial Times.
His political leanings are less easy to decipher. He is, undoubtedly, an internationalist opposed to populism. He once described himself as being close to socialist liberalism. Yet, there is something very antithetical to socialism in his support for privatising public enterprise and his links to global capitalism. He is also a practising Catholic and a devotee of Ignatius of Loyola, the Jesuits’ founder (the legacy of the leaders educated by this Society is mixed, if not somewhat dangerous).
In short, Italy’s new prime minister is a competent, skilled man who has been tested and who delivered. Yet, his greatest challenge lies ahead of him. His stewardship of Italy will bring about some changes on a European level.
In Europe, his leadership should be welcomed. As the continent tries to make sense of how it handled the COVID-19 crisis, he brings a sense of gravitas in a line-up of mostly unimpressive national leaders (with one or two exceptions). He has both a vision for Europe and a proven ability to bring some of that vision to fruition. He supplements this with critical and rigorous analysis which served him well in his previous appointments.
However, he will also need to be sensitive to the growing social inequalities both in Italy and beyond. The pandemic is likely to widen, rather than close such gaps. Some of his prescribed medicine may prove to be too much of a bitter pill at this stage. Draghi may find little comfort in Ignatius of Loyola’s injunction: “he who goes about to reform the world must begin with himself or he loses his labour.”
Instead, he may find solace in Ignatius’ petition to “give without counting the cost, fight without fear of being wounded, work without seeking rest and to spend without expecting any reward”.
This is a prayer which will most definitely be answered. To try and lead in times of crisis is, undoubtedly, a thankless task.
André DeBattista is a political scientist.