Italian politics bears a striking resemblance to South American telenovelas: filled with episodes of unrequited love, bizarre couplings and multiple break-ups. Narrative lines reach a fever pitch of crisis before an unexpected turn of events makes everything right – the deus-ex-machina moment. That’s the climax in ancient dramas when a god is swung on stage by a machine to snatch away a troublesome character who can’t be written out of the script otherwise.

The Italian left, led by the Democratic Party, is now hoping for a deus-ex-machina moment after its election strategy came undone with the sudden departure of a centrist ally just four days after they’d agreed to join forces against the surging right. But who will play God? The party is betting on the sacred aura of Mario Draghi.

Bloomberg Opinion