Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will resign on Tuesday in a tactical move aimed at maximizing his chances of leading a new government.
Conte will hold a cabinet meeting at 9 am CET before officially handing over his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella, his office announced in a statement.
Conte survived votes of confidence in both houses of parliament last week after former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi unleashed a political crisis by removing his small Italia Viva party from the governing coalition. However, the votes of confidence left Conte with only a small majority, and since then he has failed to strengthen support.
With a weak majority, Conte was due to be defeated in a Senate vote in a court report on Wednesday.
According to media reports, Conte is under pressure from the two main coalition parties – the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Democratic Party (PD) – to preemptively resign before Wednesday’s vote in order to have a chance better to receive a mandate from Mattarella to form a new government supported by a broader coalition.
Such a move may depend on Italia Viva’s return to the herd. Count, as well as PD and M5S politicians, insisted last week that they would not work with Renzi again.
“It is currently unclear whether Conte can succeed in such an effort,” wrote Wolfango Piccoli, the co-president of London-based research firm Teneo Holdings, in a note. “The PD and M5S are deeply divided internally about the possibility of negotiating with Renzi. Both parties are also striving to reduce the power that Conte has accumulated thanks to the pandemic over the past 11 months. “
Conte enjoyed popularity for his way of dealing with the pandemic during the first wave, when the country suffered a difficult two-month blockade, but lost some credibility with the government’s random approach to subsequent restrictions and weak financial response to affected companies. .
The crisis comes at a time when Italy is struggling to get out of the pandemic and recession. Renzi was widely criticized after withdrawing from the Italia Viva coalition, which attracts less than 3% in the polls. He did so because of disagreements over how to deal with the pandemic and a post-Covid-19 economic recovery plan. Italy is expected to receive more than € 200 billion (£ 178 billion) from the EU recovery fund.
If Conte manages to form a broad coalition, it will be his third government in less than three years.
“A new coalition, under Conte or under another prime minister, remains the most likely outcome,” added Piccoli. “However, it is doubtful whether a more effective prime minister and government will emerge, given the current parliamentary composition and the preferences of the main parties.”