Italy PM to quit Tuesday, seeking new govt

(FILES) In this file photo taken on February 21, 2020, Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte arrives for the second day of a special European Council summit in Brussels, held to discuss the next long-term budget of the European Union (EU). Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will resign January 26, 2021, his office said on January 25, 2021, in what media reports said was a move to secure a mandate for a new government after weeks of turmoil. A statement from Conte’s office said he had called a cabinet meeting for 9:00am (0800 GMT) “during which the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, will inform the ministers of his desire to go to the Quirinale (President Sergio Mattarella’s office) to resign”. Aris Oikonomou / AFP

 

ROME (AFP) — Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced he will resign Tuesday, in what media reports said was an attempt to build a new government after weeks of turmoil.

He called a cabinet meeting for 9:00am (0800 GMT) when he “will inform the ministers of his desire to go to the Quirinale (President Sergio Mattarella’s office) to resign”, his office said.

Media reports suggest he will seek a new mandate to form a new government to run Italy as it battles the coronavirus pandemic, which has left more than 85,000 people dead in the country and crippled the economy.

The ruling coalition has been teetering on the edge of collapse since former premier Matteo Renzi withdrew his small Italia Viva party on January 13.

Conte survived a parliamentary vote of confidence last week but failed to secure a majority in the Senate, the upper house, leaving his government severely weakened.

His resignation comes ahead of a key vote on judicial reforms later this week, which commentators suggest the government was on course to lose.

Shortly before the announcement, the largest party in parliament, the populist Five Star Movement (M5S), said it would stand by Conte.

“We remain at Conte’s side,” said a statement from the party’s leaders in both parliamentary houses, Davide Crippa and Ettore Licheri.

 

© Agence France-Presse