Italia (por fin) podría formar un gobierno

Genevieve Signoret & Patrick Signoret

Giorgio Napolitano fue reelegido presidente de Italia, abriéndole la posibilidad de disolver el parlamento y convocar nuevas elecciones (lo cual por ley no podía hacer en los últimos seis meses de su mandato anterior) (Open Europe). Sin embargo, no ha convocado a nuevas elecciones, sino que le ha dado la oportunidad a Enrico Letta, número dos del Partido Demócrata (centro-izquierda), de intentar formar un gobierno de coalición (Reuters). Esta semana los rendimientos de bonos soberanos italianos han caído y su margen con respecto a los alemanes se ha contraído.

Open Europe (22 abril):

It took the Italian parliament almost three days and six ballots to elect a new President of the Republic. Well, newish. Incumbent Giorgio Napolitano, who will turn 88 in June, eventually caved in to pressure and agreed to serve a second term. This is unprecedented in Italian history and shows how deep the country’s political crisis is. Unable to overcome the stalemate and agree on a new President, the main parties have turned to the old one and begged him to stay.

[…] Napolitano will take his second oath this afternoon. From that moment, he will re-gain the power to dissolve parliament and call new elections.

Crucially, Napolitano has said he will “clarify the terms” under which he agreed to stay on in his (second) inauguration speech. The Italian media are speculating on at least two conditions. First, a shorter mandate than the seven years set out in the Italian Constitution – otherwise Re Giorgio would be leaving office at 95. Second, and most important, the formation of a national unity government – backed by the centre-left Democratic Party, Mario Monti’s centrist group and Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party.

[…] The new government is likely to be a mix of politicians and technocrats. It will focus its efforts on bringing home 5-6 key reforms, based on the proposals put forward by the ten ‘wise men’ earlier this month. We expect the new government to give priority to political, rather than economic reform. Top of the agenda will be changing the electoral system, along with reforming a pretty dysfunctional institutional structure where the two houses of parliament have perfectly equal powers.

In any case, the new government is unlikely to remain in charge for the entire five-year parliamentary term.

Reuters (24 abril):

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Wednesday asked center-left deputy leader Enrico Letta to form a new government, signaling the end of a damaging two-month vacuum since elections in the euro zone’s third largest economy in February.

Letta, a youthful former Christian Democrat from the right wing of his Democratic Party, said he would start talks to form a broad-based coalition on Thursday. It will likely go to parliament for a vote of confidence by early next week.

[…] Investors had already reacted with relief to the prospect of an end to the intractable crisis, with Italy’s two-year borrowing costs on Wednesday tumbling to their lowest level since the start of European monetary union in 1999.