Depending on your perspective, Italian President Sergio Mattarella has either saved Italy, or sealed its fate.
After Italy’s elections resulted in the anti-euro Five-Star Movement and the League banding together with Giuseppe Conte being nominated for Prime Minister by the parties, and Paolo Savona for finance minister, Mattarella rejected the outcome of the process — he was opposed to Savona, who opposes the euro currency — and called for new elections.
In the U.S., this would be the equivalent of the Electoral College failing to select the president-elect who had received the most electoral votes in the general election. It’s that outrageous.
Arguably, Five-Star and the League would have been a coalition government, but it would have been a tenuous alliance. The negotiations to get a compromise figures for prime minister and finance minister were undoubtedly difficult and lengthy.
Now, the two are united in their outrage against Mattarella, and have called for national protests on June 2.
The snap elections could be held as early as September. Watch for Five-Star and the League to once again poll as the top two parties, and with the blessing of Silvio Berlusconi, make it clear that the majority of the Italian people will not stand for Eurozone and European Union tyranny in attempting to overturn the results of a legitimate election.
The fact is, the euro currency prevents Italy from printing more money to help pay off its debts, which every other non-eurozone country in the world has the power to do. As a result, Italy and the rest of the eurozone lacks the same sovereignty as other nations.
In response, the League’s leader Matteo Salvini blasted the decision, saying, “In a democracy, if we are still in a democracy, there’s only one thing to do: let the Italians have their say.”
In the meantime, Luigi Di Maio, the Five-Star Movement leader, called Mattarella’s rejection of Savona “unacceptable.”
“What’s the point of going to vote if it’s the ratings agencies that decide?” Di Maio added.
The two parties might even run together, according to early reports.
But even if they don’t, it might have been better, from Mattarella’s perspective, to have just left well enough alone.
If Mattarella’s goal was to consolidate Italy’s place in the Eurozone by keeping the populist Five-Star and League out of power, he has badly miscalculated. He has acted to solidify their bases of support, and if anything, will surely turn Italian sentiment against Brussels.
Stay tuned. This is likely to get even more interesting.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.
