Italy’s Prime Minsiter Mario Draghi submitted his resignation on Thursday, 21 July, as reported by the office of Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
President Mattarella accepted Draghi’s resignation and permitted him to remain serving as an interim prime minister.
The announcement does not mention what Mattarella plans to do now.
Sources close to political circles mentioned this week the president may dissolve the parliament and announce early elections in October.
The Italian president plans to meet with speakers of both chambers of the parliament.
According to surveys, the conservative bloc, which includes national-conservative party Fratelli d’Italia, is likely to win in elections.
After the failure in finding common ground in talks, three leading coalition parties of Italy skipped the confidence vote for Draghi’s government.
Conservative party Forza Italia, national-conservative party League and the populist M5S made an announcement before the vote that they will not be taking part in it, thereby basically ruining Draghi’s chances of escaping the ongoing political crisis.
Right wing parties represented in Draghi’s government did say they may support him, but only under the condition that the populist M5S is expelled from the government.
In response to M5S’ refusal to participate in last week’s vote, Draghi submitted Mattarella his resignation. However, the president convinced him to stay.
During his speech to the Senate, Draghi announced he would remain to prevent a political crisis, but only if parties of the coalition promise him full support.
Ex-governor of the European Central Bank Draghi, who is not a member of any party, served as PM in a coalition consisting of several parties since February 2021. He was in charge of Italy during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
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