THE powers of an Italian president are few, but mighty. He—there has never been a she—can declare war, dissolve parliament and name the prime minister. The constitution also stipulates that the president names the ministers, “on the proposal” of the prime minister-designate—a provision that has been interpreted to mean that a prospective head of government must table a list of choices that the president can accept or, sometimes, reject.
On May 27th President Sergio Mattarella deployed the last of those powers to devastating effect, halting the formation of a populist coalition between the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the hard-right Northern League. He refused to swear in a Eurosceptic, Paolo Savona, as finance minister. After the prospective coalition partners refused to withdraw Mr Savona’s name, Giuseppe Conte, the lawyer who was to have headed their government, backed out.
His withdrawal raised the likelihood of an early election that could become a proxy...Continue reading
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