Italian PM Draghi confirms resignation

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned on Thursday after the ruling coalition collapsed. Draghi’s government will remain as a caretaker until a new one is formed, a statement from the president’s office says.

Draghi met with President Sergio Mattarella to tender his resignation. The government will continue to work for now to “deal with current affairs,” the office reported after the meeting.

The prime minister wanted to resign last week, but Mattarella blocked the move in a last-ditch effort to save the coalition.

The parliament is now set to be dissolved, paving the way for a snap election, according to Italy’s ANSA news agency.

Draghi, who was appointed PM in February 2021, survived a no-confidence vote in the Senate, the upper house of Italy’s parliament, on Wednesday, but three of the coalition parties boycotted the vote. This meant that Draghi’s government had lost the parliamentary majority, and the coalition was no longer workable.

When taking office last year, Draghi was tasked by Mattarella to form a unity government that would involve nearly all parties across the political spectrum. However, the support for the PM deteriorated over time as the Five Star Movement, one of the principal coalition partners, quarreled with Draghi, criticizing the response to the economic crisis and demanding more state aid to families and businesses.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict also caused a split within the Five Star Movement, whose leader, former PM Giuseppe Conte, criticized the government for sending weapons to Kiev. This led to Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and several other prominent members leaving the party last month.

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