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Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigns

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) -Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned Tuesday after former PM Matteo Renzi pulled his Italia Viva party out of a deeply divided governing coalition, Sky News reports. Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella has asked Mr. Conte to stay on in a caretaker capacity while he begins consultations with the leaders of the other parties on Wednesday.

Mr. Conte had been leading a coalition that became fatally fractured over the issue of COVID-19 spending. Infighting went on for 16months as Mr. Renzi strenuously objected to Mr. Conte’s plans for spending $254bn of European Union COVID-19 recovery funds.

Upon leaving government, Mr. Renzi said he would only return if his demands were met, BBC News reports.

Although he survived subsequent votes of confidence in both the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate, Mr. Conte was driven to resignation as he no longer had an absolute majority with which to pass legislation and help Italy manage the devastation wrought by COVID-19.

Mr. Conte’s office said the PM had confidence in Mr. Mattarella’s “political wisdom” to find a way out of the crisis.

President Mattarella may ask Mr. Conte to form a new coalition government, but opposition parties may call for an early election instead, Sky News reports.