«If I look at the challenges met and won in just twenty months of government, one has to smile at those who said I wanted to leave, scared of the hypothetical abyss of a recession that has not been reflected in the data to date. I had been called upon to do a job that was new to me and I did it to the best of my ability. I would therefore have gladly stayed to complete the work, if I had been allowed .'

Mario Draghi speaks for the first time since the fall of his government , he does so in a long interview with Corriere and retraces the phases that led to the end of his executive.

«The government relied on the consensus of a vast coalition, which had decided to set aside its differences to allow Italy to overcome a period of emergency. So I didn't have my own party or my own parliamentary base. At a certain point, the willingness of the parties to find compromises failed, also due to the approaching natural expiry of the legislature. Over the months, the majority had fallen apart and various parties were dissociating themselves from decisions already taken in Parliament or in the CDM » .

The former president of the ECB also gives some examples: « The M5s was increasingly opposed to military support for Ukraine , despite having initially supported this position in Parliament and despite this being the line agreed with our allies in the European, G7 and Born. FI and Lega were against aspects of some important reforms - taxation and competition - which had been given the go-ahead in the CDM . Lega and M5s were also clamoring for a budget variance ».

The most complicated moment was in the days between the decision of the M5s not to vote for confidence in the Chamber and the debate in the Senate: «The positions of the parties were now irreconcilable. The center-right was willing to go ahead as long as the 5s ministers left the government and were replaced by their representatives. However, the Democratic Party was unwilling to be part of what was to become in effect a centre-right government. I also made it clear that it would have been impossible for me to lead a government of national unity without the relative majority party in Parliament, the M5s ».

And today? « I'm a grandfather and I enjoy my grandparents' right to be able to choose what to do. This is also why I made it clear that I am not interested in political or institutional positions, either in Italy or abroad ».

The former premier recalls the "very difficult situation" of February 2021, but "Italy has shown that it can do it and this year it will grow by almost 4%, more than France and Germany".

He mentions the difficult decisions: « We have taken many, I am thinking of the green pass and compulsory vaccination, I am pleased to see today that the Constitutional Court agrees in full . Equally difficult was choosing to reopen schools in April. Finally, immediate and convinced support for Ukraine. I was aware of the strong past ties between Italy and Moscow, but we could not remain unmoved. In Russia they probably counted on our ambiguity, which instead didn't exist».

Finally, the Meloni government: « It's not up to me to judge him, not after such a short time. Meloni proved to be an able leader and had a strong electoral mandate. We must be careful not to create a new negative international climate towards Italy ».

(Unioneonline/L)

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