Italy's Conte looks for outside backing after Renzi quits government

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resisted calls to resign on Thursday after a junior coalition party pulled out of his government, stripping him of a parliamentary majority in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead, Conte signalled he wanted to take his fight for survival to parliament, with his main coalition partners backing plans to try to find so-called “responsible” lawmakers from among opposition ranks to prop up the administration.

On Monday he will address the Chamber of Deputies on the crisis and what is sure to be a fiery debate will be followed by a vote of confidence that should provide an indication of whether he can battle on.

If he survives that vote, an even tougher one will come the following day in the upper house Senate, where cobbling together a majority looks more difficult.

“Government majorities are put together in parliament, openly, in the light of day and without shame. This is what we will do now,” said Dario Franceschini, the culture minister and a leading figure in the co-ruling Democratic Party (PD).

Former premier Matteo Renzi plunged the country into political chaos on Wednesday when he withdrew his two ministers from the cabinet, presenting a long list of grievances over how Conte had handled the health emergency and the economy.

Renzi has left open the door to returning to the fold so long as a new policy pact could be worked out, but his one-time partners said they wanted nothing more to do with him.