Italy’s new prime minister upends the country’s political parties
The leader of the Democrats quits
IN THE DAYS when Italy’s former prime minister, Matteo Renzi, saw himself as an instrument of creative destruction, he revelled in the nickname il rottamatore, the Demolition Man. Today, that title is more applicable to Mario Draghi, the technocrat Mr Renzi boasts of manoeuvring into the premiership. Restrained and courteous, Mr Draghi is an unlikely wrecker. Yet his arrival has so far split the biggest party in parliament, the Five Star Movement (M5S), and pitched the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) into leaderless disarray.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Demolition Draghi”
Europe March 13th 2021
- A protracted swell of cases highlights Europe’s vaccine problems
- Italy’s new prime minister upends the country’s political parties
- After a year, Berlin’s experiment with rent control is a failure
- The many colours of German coalitions
- European censuses are being disrupted by covid-19
- Why leave the EU, when you can shape it instead?
From the March 13th 2021 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Europe
How Poland emerged as a leading defence power
Will others follow?
Russian pilots appear to be hunting Ukrainian civilians
Residents of Kherson are dodging murderous drones
Can the good ship Europe weather the Trumpnado?
Tossed by political storms, the continent must dodge a new threat
Spain’s proposed house tax on foreigners will not fix its shortage
Pedro Sánchez will need the opposition’s help to increase supply
A French-sponsored Ukrainian army brigade has been badly botched
The scandal reveals serious weaknesses in Ukraine’s military command
A TV dramatisation of Mussolini’s life inflames Italy
With Giorgia Meloni in power, the fascist past is more relevant than ever