Mario Draghi is summoned to form Italy’s government

IN CERTAIN COUNTRIES, when the politicians are considered to have failed, it is time for an unsmiling general to appear on television to announce he has seized power. In Italy, the procedure is more benign: a man in a well-cut suit, usually one with a successful career as a central banker behind him, is called to the presidential palace to get the nod.On February 3rd just such a man, Mario Draghi, arrived at the palace on the Quirinal hill to be asked by the president, Sergio Mattarella, to head a new government. Mr Draghi accepted, conditional on the support of a parliamentary majority. Mr Mattarella called in the former boss of the European Central Bank after Matteo Renzi’s Italia Viva group torpedoed hopes of a deal between the parties that had supported the outgoing prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, and his left-leaning coalition.