It's more than a plea, it's a plea: half the world seems to be calling on Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi to stay.

The appeals come from heads of state, entrepreneurs and trade unionists, mayors, scientists, doctors, nurses - and from former central bankers.

Christian Schubert

Economic correspondent for Italy and Greece.

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“Of course he should remain prime minister.

In the interests of Italy and Europe, that would be for the best.

There is not the slightest doubt about that," Jean-Claude Trichet, his predecessor at the head of the European Central Bank, told the FAZ on Tuesday: On Monday there were even demonstrations in Rome, Milan, Turin and Florence.

Not thousands, but hundreds of participants followed the calls.

Italians take to the streets for a prime minister, and for a former figurehead of the scorned world of finance.

When has that ever happened?

On Wednesday he will explain himself in Parliament

How receptive Draghi is to the encouragement will be seen on Wednesday.

Negotiations continued late into the night on Tuesday.

At the age of 74, the Italian faces one of the most difficult decisions of his life.

On Wednesday, Draghi will explain himself in Parliament, as President Sergio Mattarella wants, who refused to resign on Thursday.

The Five Star Left Party had renounced its loyalty to Draghi, thereby provoking the government crisis;

a remarkable event shortly before the crucial meeting of the European Central Bank, which wants to decide on new purchases of government bonds from Italy and other shaky countries.

That this is "feeding the hawks at the ECB," as one Italian observer noted, doesn't seem to bother the Five Star Movement - or worse, it doesn't seem to get it.

Over the weekend, Draghi reflected on how to proceed at the family's summer home by the sea south of Rome.

Even as a child, when he still had his parents, he spent many summers here.

Draghi, the eldest of three children, lost his father when he was 15 and his mother when he was 19.

So he had to take on responsibility early on.

As an orphan, he had many things to take care of

In an interview with Die Zeit, he once said that he had to pay bills and answer letters while his peers were enjoying their free time.

The family was well off;

the father, who spoke German almost as well as Italian, had worked at the Italian central bank for a time, like his son later did.

Draghi was never a rebel because there were no parents to protest against.

But he was also anything but a conformist.

An elite Jesuit school in Rome was his first educational station;

later he was influenced at the Roman University of La Sapienza by the Keynesian economist Federico Caffè.

In his own words, as a young man he was close to the ideas of “liberal socialism”.

Five years at MIT University in Boston, where he studied and did his doctorate with various Nobel Prize winners, were also formative.

In order to support his young family - his first child had just been born - he had to work part-time in a computer company.