Italian Prime Minister Conte resigns, leading to search for new government to deal with Covid-19, recession

The fall of the Italian leader also shows that Europe’s political challenges in recent years – including the fragmentation of the political landscape and the rise of anti-establishment parties – have not disappeared, despite the pandemic’s pressure on European politicians to cooperate across party lines. .

Mr. Conte stepped down on Tuesday after losing his majority in the Italian Senate this month following an argument with a small coalition ally about how to spend the European Union’s massive funds to help Italy’s economy recover from the pandemic.

Italy’s head of state, President Sergio Mattarella, will initiate political consultations with parties in parliament to test whether a new government majority can be found. Possible scenarios include a government under a new prime minister or another coalition led by Mr Conte.

If Mr Mattarella concludes that a stable majority cannot be obtained, he will dissolve Parliament and call elections.

The government fell apart after a small centrist party led by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi withdrew from the coalition because he disagreed on how Mr. Conte spent more than € 200 billion, the equivalent of $ 243 billion. Wanted to spend EU recovery funds. Italy.

Mr Conte and his main coalition members, the center-left Democratic Party and the populist 5-star movement, tried to find new supporters in the Senate, the upper house of the Italian Parliament, to replace Mr Renzi’s party, but the search yielded little on. fruit.

However, should a new group of centrist senators appear in the next few days willing to support Mr Conte, Mr Mattarella could reappoint him as Prime Minister. Many political analysts consider this the most likely outcome. It would be the third coalition government led by Mr Conte since 2018, when the little-known law professor first entered national politics.

“The default solution would be another Conte government, with broader support and significant signs of discontinuity with the past,” said Lorenzo Codogno, a London-based consultant and former economist at the Italian Treasury.

Alternatively, there could be a majority in parliament to support a government under a new prime minister. Mr Renzi’s party, Italia Viva, has shown more willingness to support a government not led by Mr Conte.

A new prime minister can come from the Democratic Party or the Five Star Movement, or he can be a politically independent figure with technocratic expertise.

Parts of Italy’s right-wing opposition have called for early elections, but the parties behind the outgoing left-wing government want to avoid that if possible. Opinion polls point to a victory for the right.

Opponents of rapid elections say they would pose public health challenges amid the pandemic, as well as delay Italy’s efforts to come up with a plan to revive its battered economy with EU funds. to blow.

Write to Giovanni Legorano at [email protected]