The Draghi government was the 67th government of the

Italian Republic Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, led by former

President of the European Central Bank The president of the European Central Bank is the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), the main institution responsible for the management of the euro and monetary policy in the Eurozone of the European Union (EU). The current president of ...

, Mario Draghi. It was in office between 13 February 2021 and 22 October 2022. The Draghi government was formed following the resignation of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in the midst of a political crisis which led to the Conte government losing its majority. After consultations with political parties, President

Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician, jurist, academic and lawyer who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. A Christian leftist politician, Mattarella was a leading member of the Christian Democracy p ...

tasked Draghi with forming a "high-profile" government. Mattarella stated that the new government would have to face the health, economic and social crises related to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, as well as overseeing the EU relief fund associated with it. The Draghi government was described as a

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nati ...

by numerous news sources. The choice by Mattarella to appoint Draghi as Prime Minister was welcomed by some international observers, with others casting doubt on the stability of a new technocratic government. The Draghi Government was formed with both politicians and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

technocrats Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...

, and is supported by a large majority of the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transition ...

, including the anti-establishment

Five Star Movement The Five Star Movement ( it, Movimento 5 Stelle , M5S) is a political party in Italy. Its leader and president is Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy from 2018 until 2021. The M5S was founded on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a comedian ...

(M5S), the right-wing League (Lega), the centre-right

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

(FI), the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), the centrist

Italia Viva Italia Viva (, IV) is a liberal political party in Italy founded in September 2019. The party is led by Matteo Renzi, a former Prime Minister of Italy and former secretary of the Democratic Party (PD). History Background Matteo Renzi sta ...

(IV), and the leftist Article One (Art.1). On 21 July 2022, following M5S, Lega and FI's withdrawal of their support to the government, Prime Minister Draghi handed his resignation. The government continued to operate as a

caretaker government A caretaker government is a temporary '' ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly s ...

until the next government formation following the

2022 Italian general election The 2022 Italian general election was a snap election held in Italy on 25 September 2022. After the fall of the Draghi government, which led to a parliamentary impasse, President Sergio Mattarella dissolved the parliament on 21 July, and called ...

on 25 September.

Supporting parties

Beginning of term

At the time of the government formation, its ministers were part of the following parties.

End of term

Since 1 August 2022 the government is composed of the following parties. On 21 June 2022, Luigi Di Maio led a breakaway group outside of the M5S and formed Together for the Future, which confirmed its support for the government.

Mariastella Gelmini Mariastella Gelmini (born 1 July 1973) is an Italian politician and attorney (specialised in administrative law). She served as Italian Minister of Education in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet until 16 November 2011. She served as minister of Regional ...

Renato Brunetta Renato Brunetta (born 15 May 1950) is an Italian economist and politician. He was the Minister of Public Administration and Innovation from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011 in the Berlusconi government, and he is, once again, the minister for ...

and Mara Carfagna left FI on 21, 22 and 26 July, respectively. On 29 July, Gelmini and Carfagna joined Action. On 30 July, Federico D'Incà left the M5S, and on 1 August he founded Environment 2050 alongside deputy Davide Crippa.

History

Background

On 13 January 2021, Italia Viva (IV) withdrew its support for the second Conte government, triggering a political crisis. Conte subsequently won confidence motions in both houses of Parliament, with the abstention of IV, but could only reach a plurality in the Senate, rather than an absolute majority. In the wake of this, Conte tendered his resignation to President Mattarella, who then began a round of discussions with various parties to form a new government.

Government formation

Mattarella met with delegations of political parties on 28 and 29 January to determine their views on the formation of a new government. The

(M5S), Democratic Party (PD), Free and Equal (LeU),

For the Autonomies For the Autonomies ( it, Per le Autonomie, Aut) is a heterogeneous mostly centrist to centre-left and originally regionalist parliamentary group, which has been active, with slightly different names and different composition, in the Italian Se ...

, Europeanists, and some members of the

Mixed Group The mixed group ( it, Gruppo Misto, GM) is a parliamentary group active in both houses of the Italian Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicam ...

all expressed support for the reappointment of Conte as Prime Minister, but IV ruled this out. The centre-right and right-wing parties, the League (Lega),

(FI) and the

Brothers of Italy Brothers of Italy ( it, Fratelli d'Italia, FdI) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Italy. It is led by Giorgia Meloni, the incumbent Prime Minister of Italy and the first woman to serve in the position. Acco ...

(FdI), stated that they preferred a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

, but would be willing to join a

under certain conditions. Following this deadlock, Mattarella asked

Roberto Fico Roberto Fico (; born 10 October 1974) is an Italian politician. He is a member of the Five Star Movement, and has been serving as President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2018 to 2022. Previously, he was the Chairman of the RAI Supervi ...

, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, to explore the possibility of a

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are t ...

government. On 2 February, Fico confirmed that there was insufficient support for the proposal. Governo Draghi

With the prospect of early elections looming, on 3 February Mattarella invited former ECB President Mario Draghi to the Quirinal Palace to charge him to forming a national unity government. Draghi accepted the offer, and began consultations with the leaders of political parties. Conte publicly endorsed him as his successor the following day, and further negotiations commenced. On 10 February, League leader

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been Federal Secretary of Italy's Lega Nord ( Northern League) party ...

and FI leader

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

jointly announced their support for Draghi. Conversely, FdI leader

Giorgia Meloni Giorgia Meloni (; born 15 January 1977) is an Italian politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Italy since 22 October 2022, the first woman to hold this position. A member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2006, she has led the ...

stated that her party would go into opposition. The PD's national board unanimously voted on 11 February to support Draghi. The same day, the M5S held an online

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption o ...

on whether to "support a technical-political government with the other political forces indicated by the appointed prime minister Mario Draghi", which was approved by 59.3%. Having achieved sufficient support, on 12 February Draghi met with President Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace and presented his list of ministers. The Draghi government was sworn in on the following day, 13 February, at 11:00 AM UTC. The government was composed of twenty-four ministers, eight women and sixteen men, most of them from Northern Italy, largely from

Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...

and

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

; it contained representatives from all supportive political parties, as well as numerous independent technocrats.

Investiture vote

On 17 February 2021, the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

approved the Draghi government with 262 votes in favour, 40 against and 2 abstentions. The following day, the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

affirmed its support, with 535 votes in favour, 56 against and 5 abstentions. This was the third largest majority garnered by a government in the history of the Italian Republic after the Monti government and after the fourth Andreotti government.

Government crisis and collapse

In July 2022, the M5S did not participate to a confidence vote in the Senate on a government bill, the so-called ''decreto aiuti'', regarding a €27 billion economic aid to counteract the energy and economy crisis. Prime Minister Draghi offered his resignation, which was rejected by President Mattarella. After a few days, on 20 July, Draghi spoke to the Senate again, seeking a confidence vote again to secure the government majority supporting his cabinet, while rejecting the proposal put forward by Lega and FI on a new government without the M5S. In that occasion, the M5S, Lega and FI, three major parties which were supporting the Draghi government, withdrew their support. Consequently, Draghi tendered his final resignation to President Mattarella, who dissolved the houses of Parliament, leading to an early election in September 2022, and asked Draghi to stay in office to handle current affairs (as is customary in Italian politics) until a new government could be formed following the upcoming general election.

Party breakdown

Beginning of term

Ministers

Ministers and other members

* Independents: Prime minister, 8 ministers, 3 undersecretaries *

(M5S): 4 ministers, 2 deputy ministers, 9 undersecretaries * League (Lega): 3 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 8 undersecretaries * Democratic Party (PD): 3 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 5 undersecretaries *

(FI): 3 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 5 undersecretaries *

(IV): 1 minister, 1 deputy minister, 1 undersecretary * Article One (Art.1): 1 minister, 1 undersecretary * Democratic Centre (CD): 1 undersecretary *

Us with Italy Us with Italy ( it, Noi con l'Italia, NcI) is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Italy. NcI started as a federation of minor centre-right parties and, as such, was part of the centre-right coalition in the 2018 ...

(NcI): 1 undersecretary *

More Europe More Europe ( it, Più Europa or ''+Europa''; +E or +Eu) is a liberal and pro-Europeanist political party in Italy, part of the centre-left coalition and member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. Its leaders are Emma ...

(+E): 1 undersecretary

End of term

Ministers

Ministers and other members

* Independents: Prime minister, 9 ministers, 2 undersecretaries * League (Lega): 3 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 8 undersecretaries * Democratic Party (PD): 3 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 5 undersecretaries *

(M5S): 2 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 5 undersecretaries *

Action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

(A): 2 ministers * Together for the Future (IpF): 1 minister, 1 deputy minister, 4 undersecretaries *

(IV): 1 minister, 1 deputy minister, 1 undersecretary * Article One (Art.1): 1 minister, 1 undersecretary * Environment 2050 (A2050): 1 minister *

(FI): 1 deputy minister, 6 undersecretaries * Democratic Centre (CD): 1 undersecretary *

(NcI): 1 undersecretary *

(+E): 1 undersecretary

Geographical breakdown

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

: 18 ministers **

: 9 ministers **

: 4 ministers **

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

: 2 ministers **

Friuli-Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

: 1 minister **

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

: 1 minister **

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

: 1 minister *

Central Italy Central Italy ( it, Italia centrale or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region, and a European Parliament constituency. Regions Central It ...

: 2 ministers (including Draghi) **

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

: 2 ministers (including Draghi) * Southern and

Insular Italy Insular Italy ( it, Italia insulare or just , meaning "islands") is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency. ...

: 4 ministers **

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

: 2 ministers **

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

: 2 ministers

Council of Ministers

The

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

is composed of the following members:

Composition

References

{{EU governments 2021 establishments in Italy Italian governments Cabinets established in 2021 Cabinet Cabinets disestablished in 2022