Italy: Draghi to try to form government

Former president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, has agreed to form a national unity government in Italy after being summoned by president Sergio Mattarella.

The move follows the collapse of Giuseppe Conte’s coalition after former premier Matteo Renzi withdrew his Italia Viva party from the ruling majority. Italy faces one of its severest financial crises as a result of the covid pandemic and is set to be the biggest recipient of the EU recovery fund, with a €200bn bail out. But Draghi faces a challenge to form a unity government and will likely have to gain support of either the Five Star Movement or The League to avoid new elections. The FT and BBC report on the latest, while The Guardian has an interesting profile of ‘Super Mario’.