2019 Italian government crisis
Giuseppe Conte at the Quirinal Palace
Date8 August 2019 – 5 September 2019
LocationItaly
TypeParliamentary crisis and government formation
CauseWithdrawal of League's support to Giuseppe Conte's government
ParticipantsM5S, Lega, FI, PD, FdI, LeU, Aut, Mixed Group
Outcome

The 2019 Italian government crisis was a political event in Italy that occurred between August and September 2019. It includes the events that follow the announcement of the Minister of the Interior and leader of the League, Matteo Salvini, that he would revoke League's support of the cabinet and ask the President of the Republic to call a snap election. This provoked the resignation of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte,[1] and resulted in the formation of a new cabinet led by Conte himself.[2]

Background

In the 2018 Italian general election, no political group or party won an outright majority, resulting in a hung parliament.[3] On 4 March, the centre-right alliance, in which Matteo Salvini's League emerged as the main political force, won a plurality of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate, while the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) led by Luigi Di Maio became the party with the largest number of votes. The centre-left coalition, led by Matteo Renzi, came third.[4] As a result, protracted negotiations were required before a new government could be formed.

The talks between the Five Star Movement and the League resulted in the proposal of the so-called "government of change" under the leadership of university professor Giuseppe Conte, a law professor close to the M5S.[5] After some dispute with President Sergio Mattarella,[6][7] Conte's cabinet, which was dubbed by the media as Western Europe's "first all-populist government", was sworn in on 1 June.[8]

Political crisis

In August 2019, Deputy Prime Minister Salvini announced he would file a motion of no confidence against Conte, after growing tensions within the majority.[9] Salvini's move came right after a vote in the Senate regarding the progress of the Turin–Lyon high-speed railway, in which the Lega voted against an attempt of the M5S to block the construction works.[10] Many political analysts believe the no confidence motion was an attempt to force early elections to improve Lega's standing in Parliament, ensuring Salvini could become the next Prime Minister.[11][12][13] On 20 August, Conte announced his resignation; earlier the same day, he had spoken in Parliament against Salvini, accusing him of being a political opportunist who "had triggered the political crisis only to serve his personal interest",[14][15]

Government formation

Conte with President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace in August 2019

On 21 August, Mattarella started consultating parliamentary groups, with the aim of understanding whether a new Government could be formed.[14][16][17]

On the following days, PD and M5S started working on an agreement framework,[18] while left-wing party Free and Equal (LeU) announced that it would support a potential M5S–PD cabinet.[19] On 28 August, PD's leader Nicola Zingaretti announced that his party and the M5S had reached an agreement to form a coalition Government, with pro-Europeanism, green politics, sustainable development, and a progressive outlook to economic inequality and immigration reform as its guiding principles, and Giuseppe Conte as Prime Minister. On the same day, Mattarella summoned Conte to the Quirinal Palace and formally gave him the task of forming a new cabinet.[20]

Approval by M5S membership

On 1 September, Five Star's founder Beppe Grillo gave his endorsement to an alliance with the PD, describing it as a "unique occasion" to reform the country.[21] After two days, on 3 September, the Five Star Movement granted its members the possibility of voting online on the agreement the M5S had reached with the PD; out of nearly 80,000 voters, over 79% were in favor.[22]

Choice Votes %
check Yes63,14679.3%
☒ No16,48820.7%
Total79,634100.0%
Registered voters/turnout117,19468.0%
Sources: Associazione Rousseau

Investiture votes

The Government won a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies on 9 September 2019 with 343 votes in favour, 263 against and 3 abstentions,[23][24] and in the Senate the following day with 169 votes in favor and 133 against.[25]

9–10 September 2019
Investiture votes for Conte II Cabinet
House of Parliament Vote Parties Votes
Chamber of Deputies
(Voting: 609[lower-alpha 1] of 630,
Majority: 304)		 check YesM5S (208), PD (109), LeU (14), CP–AP–PSI–AC (4), +Eu–CD (3), Others (5)
343 / 609
☒ NoLega (121), FI (95), FdI (33), NcI–USEI (4), Others (10)
263 / 609
AbstentionSVP–PATT (3)
3 / 609
Senate of the Republic
(Voting: 307[lower-alpha 2] of 321,
Majority: 152)		 check YesM5S (104), PD (49), Aut (4), LeU (4), Others (8)
169 / 307
☒ NoLega (57), FI (56), FdI (18), +Eu (1), Others (1)
133 / 307
AbstentionAut (3), M5S (1), PD (1)
5 / 307
  1. ↑ Absent (16): FI (4), Lega (3), M5S (3), PD (2), FdI (1), Others (3)
    On institutional leave (4): M5S (4)
  2. ↑ Absent (8): FI (5), M5S (1), Others (2)
    On institutional leave (5): M5S (1), PD (1), Lega (1), Aut (1), Others (1)
    President (1)

Reactions

 European Union

 United States

See also

References

  1. ↑ Borrelli, Silvia Sciorilli (August 20, 2019). "Italian PM Conte resigns". POLITICO.
  2. ↑ Governo, Conte annuncia i ministri: Gualtieri all'Economia, Lamorgese all'Interno, Di Maio agli Esteri. Fraccaro sottosegretario alla presidenza dopo lite col capo politico M5S
  3. ↑ Sala, Alessandro (2018). "Elezioni 2018: M5S primo partito, nel centrodestra la Lega supera FI".
  4. ↑ "Elezioni politiche: vincono M5s e Lega. Crollo del Partito democratico. Centrodestra prima coalizione. Il Carroccio sorpassa Forza Italia". 4 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "Conte says to be Italians' defence lawyer in govt of change" Archived 29 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ "Mattarella meets Conte, 'vetoed' Savona" Archived 29 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ "Conte drops govt bid" Archived 29 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ "Governo Conte, la lista di tutti i ministri: Salvini all’Interno e Di Maio al Welfare. Saranno vicepremier" Archived 1 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ "La Lega presenta al Senato una mozione di sfiducia a Conte. M5S attacca Salvini: "Giullare"". rainews. 9 August 2019.
  10. ↑ "Il Senato ha bocciato la mozione del M5S sulla TAV". Il Post (in Italian). 7 August 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  11. ↑ Squires, Nick (August 9, 2019). "Italy's League files no confidence motion in prime minister in bid to trigger election". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  12. ↑ "Italian Senate to set date for no-confidence vote as Salvini pushes for elections". France 24. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  13. ↑ Giuffrida, Angela (12 August 2019). "Italian senate to set date for no-confidence vote in government". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  14. 1 2 Giuffrida, Angela (August 20, 2019). "Italian PM resigns with attack on 'opportunist' Salvini". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  15. ↑ Horowitz, Jason (August 20, 2019). "Italy's Government Collapses, Turning Chaos Into Crisis". The New York Times.
  16. ↑ "Governo, Zingaretti: "I 5 punti per trattare con il M5S. No accordicchi, governo di svolta"". Repubblica.it. August 21, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Crisi di governo, secondo giro di consultazioni al Colle". Tgcom24.
  18. ↑ "Ecco l'accordo sul Conte bis: Zingaretti dà il via libera, nodo su ministeri e manovra". Fanpage.
  19. ↑ "Grasso, possibile intesa M5s-Pd-Leu - Ultima Ora". Agenzia ANSA. August 19, 2019.
  20. ↑ "C'è l'accordo tra M5s e Pd. Governo giallorosso ai nastri di partenza". Agi.
  21. ↑ "L'appello di Grillo ai "ragazzi del Pd": "È il vostro momento"". Agi.
  22. ↑ "Governo, via libera di Rousseau all'intesa M5s-Pd con il 79% dei voti. Conte domattina al Quirinale". Repubblica.it. September 3, 2019.
  23. ↑ "La Camera vota la fiducia con 343 sì, il premier replica alla Camera fra le proteste. Alzata anche una sedia". Repubblica.it (in Italian). 9 September 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  24. ↑ "Resoconto stenografico dell'Assemblea Seduta n. 222 di lunedì 9 settembre 2019". camera.it. Camera dei Deputati. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  25. ↑ Schumacher, Elizabeth (9 September 2019). "Italy: Parliament to vote on new Conte government | DW | 09.09.2019". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  26. ↑ "La lettera di Juncker a Conte: "L'Italia avrà ruolo di primo piano nelle sfide della Ue"" (in Italian). AGI. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  27. ↑ "Governo, tutti i ministri hanno giurato: Conte bis in carica" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  28. ↑ "Lagarde, Gualtieri ministro? Bene per Italia e Ue" (in Italian). ANSA. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  29. ↑ Moscovici, Pierre [@pierremoscovici] (September 5, 2019). "Congratulazioni al mio amico @gualtierieurope, nuovo Ministro dell'Economia! Looking forward to seeing you in Helsinki and to working closely with you in the coming weeks. 🇮🇹 🇪🇺@MEF_GOV" (Tweet) (in Italian) – via Twitter.
  30. ↑ Sassoli, David [@EP_President] (September 4, 2019). "Italy's stability is of importance to the EU. I wish the new government the best and look forward to meeting them in Brussels" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  31. ↑ "Iratxe García welcomes new Italian government, which includes S&D MEP Roberto Gualtieri". Euractiv. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  32. ↑ Trump, Donald [@realDonaldTrump] (August 27, 2019). "Starting to look good for the highly respected Prime Minister of the Italian Republic, Giuseppe Conte. Represented Italy powerfully at the G-7. Loves his Country greatly & works well with the USA. A very talented man who will hopefully remain Prime Minister!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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