Holding thumbs for Mario Draghi

Calling on former ECB chief Mario Draghi to form a coalition government may have been Italian President Sergio Mattarella's option of last resort, other than calling early elections. And Draghi, "the Italian who saved the euro," could just turn out to be "the European who saves Italy," as former prime minister Matteo Renzi, put it. However, it turns out, though, Draghi's mandate marks the beginning of a chapter that could have interesting implications for European politics, too.

The challenges that the highly respected former head of the European Central Bank faces are many. First is that of legitimacy. Not having been elected, he will face questions from all parts of the political spectrum - not least because of the strong strain of populism that resulted in the Five Star Movement and the League being the biggest parties. Secondly, running a government with various parties,...