Italy Needs a Good Political Shakeup

Can a country weather a political crisis on top of a pandemic and a recession? Italy is about to find out.

Matteo Renzi, the country’s former prime minister and leader of a small centrist party, has withdrawn his ministers from the administration of the current premier, Giuseppe Conte, bringing it toward the verge of collapse. The Conte government has often been too divided to provide Italy with the strong leadership it needs to map a long-term path out of the pandemic. In this sense, a change of administration may not be a bad thing. However, the political parties need to come up with a more competent and cohesive alternative — and do so quickly.