Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is due to resign on Tuesday, according to a government spokesman, increasing political instability that could lead to elections in a country struggling to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and revive its economy .
Conte retired after losing the government majority in the Italian Senate earlier this month, after a fight with a small coalition ally to spend the massive funds the European Union offered to help Italy recover the impact of the pandemic. His resignation has sparked the search for a new government majority, but if none can be found, the EU’s third-largest economy is likely to hold elections in the coming months.
The breakdown of the left-wing government in Italy shows that European political challenges in recent years — including the fragmentation of the political landscape and the rise of anti-establishment parties — have not disappeared, despite pressure from the pandemic on European politicians to work together between party lines.
Conte presided over an awkward coalition, led by the establishment, the center-left Democratic Party and the insurgent populist 5-star Movement, an alliance aimed primarily at avoiding elections that opinion polls suggest would win the Nationalist League party. Few people in Italy expected the government to last long, although the pandemic for a time boosted Mr. Conte’s authority.
In the end, it was a small centrist faction, led by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who withdrew support for Mr. Conte, and cited his unhappiness over his lack of consultation on how to spend the more than $ 200 billion. euros in EU economic recovery funds earmarked for Italy.