Italian PM Giuseppe Conte resigns to avoid defeat in confidence vote

ROME: Two weeks after a key coalition partner quit his government over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and an economic downturn, Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte resigned from the office today.

Conte quit hoping to be granted a fresh mandate by president Sergio Mattarella to form a new government after the coalition break-up left him short of majority in the Senate.

Mattarella is expected to hold consultations with all the parties before deciding what to do next.

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The president will start consultations with party leaders on Wednesday afternoon, a statement from his office said. The statement also said Conte had been asked to remain in the capacity of caretaker as the talks continued.

But once a prime minister resigns in Italy, there is no guarantee that a new coalition can form, and always a risk that early elections might end up as the only viable solution.

Italy’s main governing parties have warned that snap elections, two years ahead of schedule, will be the only way out of the impasse unless a solution is rapidly found.

Giuseppe Conte, who has been prime minister since June 2018, survived two confidence votes in Parliament last week. However, with the defection of former premier Matteo Renzi on January 13, he lost control of the Senate.

The departure of Renzi’s centrist Italia Viva party hobbled Conte’s administration in the middle of the pandemic, which has devastated Italy’s long-stagnant economy.

Giuseppe Conte initially resisted resigning and instead tried to attract centrist and independent senators to the government’s ranks. But his efforts hardly succeeded and legislators from the co-ruling Democratic Party said he needed to step down.

Conte has no direct party affiliation but is close to the largest coalition group, 5-Star Movement – a faction which supported Conte and rejected Renzi.

Renzi has, meanwhile, indicated he would return to the coalition on condition that Conte accepts a charter of demands.