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| - Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi agreed Wednesday to try to form a new government to see Italy through the devastating coronavirus pandemic, after the previous coalition collapsed. After being formally tasked by President Sergio Mattarella, Draghi urged Italy's splintered and squabbling political parties to get behind him at this "difficult moment". Italy has been without a fully functioning government for weeks after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's outgoing coalition collapsed in a row over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Conte quit last week but stays on in a caretaker capacity while Draghi -- famous for promising to do "whatever it takes" during the eurozone debt crisis -- tries to build his own majority in parliament. "I am confident that... unity will emerge and with it the ability to give a responsible and positive answer to the appeal of the president," Draghi said after talks at Mattarella's lavish palace in Rome. The economist noted the huge challenge facing Italy, the eurozone's third largest economy, which was the first European country to face the full force of Covid-19 and is still suffering badly. More than 89,000 people have died in the past year, while restrictions and the collapse of tourism have plunged the economy into its worst recession since the end of World War II. The government expects more than 200 billion euros ($240 billion) in European Union recovery funds to help it get back on its feet -- but only has until April to submit a spending plan to Brussels. Conte's centre-left coalition took office in September 2019 but was fatally weakened last month when former premier Matteo Renzi withdrew his Italia Viva party in a row over the handling of the pandemic. Conte finally resigned last week, but hoped to return with a new government comprising the populist Five Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD). Mattarella gave them until Tuesday to patch things up with Renzi, but the deadline came and went -- leaving the president with what he said were only two viable options. He ruled out snap elections because of the pandemic, opting instead for a "high-profile government" without political affiliations -- a national unity government led by an impartial figure. Draghi, dubbed "Super Mario" for his action calming the markets during his stint at the ECB during 2011 to 2019, had long been discussed as a potential saviour for Italy. The Milan stock exchange jumped three percent in midday trading on Wednesday in anticipation of his appointment, which was also welcomed by the EU's economy commissioner. "Thank you, President!" tweeted Paolo Gentiloni, himself a former Italian prime minister. Lorenzo Castellani, a political expert at Rome's Luiss University, said he believed a Draghi-led government would be highly technocratic. "The government programme will be 99 percent occupied by the pandemic and the recovery fund," he told AFP. Draghi must now hold talks with the main political parties, in the hope of building enough support to form a stable government. If he clears that hurdle, he must pick a cabinet, be sworn in by Mattarella, and only then would his team formally take over from Conte. So far the PD appears on board, as does Renzi, but the M5S, the biggest party in parliament once defined by its euroscepticism, is split. One of the M5S leaders, Vito Crimi, warned against a purely technocratic government. "This type of executive has already been adopted in the past, with extremely negative consequences for Italian citizens," he said. Conte was first appointed in 2018 at the helm of a government comprising M5S and Matteo Salvini's far-right League. But when Salvini quit the following year, Conte created a new coalition with M5S, the PD and Renzi. ar-ams/aa/mjs
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