Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned on Tuesday, in hopes of putting together a new coalition and rebuilding his parliamentary majority.
Conte lost his absolute Senate majority earlier in January, when the Italia Viva party, the junior partner in the coalition led by former Premier Matteo Renzi, quit after a disagreement on the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis and economic recession.
Failure to replace the gap left by Renzi prompted Conte’s resignation and forced him to open a formal government crisis to give him more time to find a deal, according to Reuters.
Conte has met with President Sergio Mattarella, who might ask him to form a stronger government, according to the BBC.
The former law professor, who has led coalition governments since 2018, is discussing the political crisis with Italy’s Senate President Elisabetta Casellati.
Mattarella is set to spend two days in talks with party leaders and will ultimately decide the next move.
Italy is grappling with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed over 85,000 people in the country. Italy has the second-highest death toll in Europe after the United Kingdom and the sixth-highest in the world. Italy is nearing 2.5 million cases of COVID-19.
