• Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned on July 21 after key coalition allies boycotted a confidence vote, signalling the likelihood of an early election and a renewed period of uncertainty for Italy and Europe at a critical time.

• The former European Central Bank chief tendered his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace.

• The resignation throws the country into turmoil just as Europe is bracing for a recession and Italians are contending with a brewing energy crisis.

• While the next steps were unclear following Draghi’s second resignation, the unraveling of his governing coalition suggested Mattarella could dissolve Parliament after a period of consultations, paving the way for an early election as soon as late September or early October. The legislature’s current five-year term is due to expire in 2023.

Italy’s ‘Super Mario’

• Draghi, credited with helping save the eurozone as head of the European Central Bank, presided over a remarkable period of unity as Italy’s premier before falling foul of its notoriously unstable political system.

• He won plaudits for his calm leadership as Italy emerged from the COVID crisis, but suffered the same fate as many of his predecessors, brought down by fractious internal politics.

• The star economist was never directly elected but won the backing of almost all political parties when he took office in February 2021.

• He was tasked with battling the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of a recession in Europe’s third-largest economy just as Italy was awarded a vast part of an unprecedented EU recovery package worth billions of euros to boost growth.

• He helped to give Italy a greater role on the international stage, strongly backing Ukraine in its war against Russia in the face of public opinion that was more divided than in other European countries.

From banker to the role of PM

• After spending six years at the World Bank from 1984 to 1990, he led the treasury department at the Italian economy ministry for a decade, working under nine separate governments. 

• From that position, Draghi masterminded large-scale privatisations and contributed to deficit-cutting efforts that helped Italy qualify for the euro.

• After leaving Italy to become vice-president of Goldman Sachs in London from 2002-2005, Draghi’s reputation as a crisis manager was burnished when he was called back to Rome to revive the fortunes of Italy’s central bank, whose governor Antonio Fazio had been forced out by a corruption scandal.

• He was named to head the European Central Bank (ECB) in November 2011 when a near-bankruptcy situation in Italy risked triggering the collapse of the entire eurozone.

• In 2012, after his famous pledge to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro at the height of the currency bloc’s sovereign debt crisis, Draghi became the darling of financial markets and one of Europe’s most recognised and powerful figures.

• Draghi earned the nickname ‘Super Mario’ during his tenure in the European Central Bank.

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