It looks like the Italian politicians are trying hard to defy the recent wave of optimism that seems to benefit Italian and European markets.

In a typical Italian quarrel within the ruling coalition, the successor as Governor of Bank of Italy to Mr. Mario Draghi, soon to become ECB’s next President, has not yet been decided.

On one side Mr. Draghi’s and Bank of Italy’s designated candidate, the Bank of Italy’s Director General Mr. Saccomanni is opposed by the Minister of Finance Mr. Tremonti.

On the other side, the outsider proposed by Mr. Tremonti, current Director General at the Ministry of Treasury Mr. Grillo, is opposed by Mr. Draghi.

Since the new Governor has to be proposed by the Government, in which Mr. Tremonti has a lot of influence, but has to be endorsed by Bank of Italy’s internal committee; at the moment there seems to be a standstill and rumors are already circulating of a possible “third candidate”.

Needless to say, in the current situation, with the ECB actively sustaining Italy’s debt throughout purchases in the open market, we would not need this kind of institutional hassle. Even worse for Italy in the medium term would be the possibility of a new Bank of Italy’s Governor that would not get along well with Mr. Draghi.

Apparently the origin of the quarrel would be the bad personal relations between Mr. Draghi and Mr. Tremonti, already a big problem in itself. The big issue though, in my opinion, is that this episode clearly shows that the Italian political class seems not to be aware of the seriousness of the current situation.