Draghi, who was dubbed “Super Mario” after helping the EU bounce back from the 2012 eurozone debt crisis, spoke with smaller centrist parties on Thursday afternoon.
He is set to meet with the Democratic Party (PD), Sivio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (FI), the Brothers of Italy (FdI), former premier Matteo Renzi’s Italia Viva (IV) and the Free and Equal (LeU) party on Friday.
Draghi will conclude the talks on Saturday, when he is scheduled to meet with the far-right League party and the populist Five Star Movement (M5S).
Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who is the arbiter of Italian politics, on Tuesday called on the parties in parliament to get behind a high-profile, non-political executive after efforts to patch up the alliance that had backed outgoing prime minister Giuseppe Conte’s government failed.
So far, Draghi appears to have support from some of the main parties in parliament, but the biggest – the M5S – is not yet on board and remains his biggest hurdle.
With ANSA
