Italy’s Giuseppe Conte survives crucial confidence vote, keeping fragile government afloat
- The prime minister, however, was unable to secure a majority after the Italia Viva party quit his coalition last week over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic
- Losing the vote would have meant Conte’s resignation, potentially leading to new national elections two years earlier than expected
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte won a confidence vote in the upper house Senate on Tuesday, allowing him to remain in office after a junior partner quit his coalition last week in the midst of the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
He failed to secure an absolute majority, however, meaning that Conte now heads a minority government that will struggle to implement its policy programme in the divided parliament unless it can flip some opposition lawmakers over the coming weeks.
Having overcome a similar confidence motion in the lower house on Monday, Conte won in the 321-seat Senate by 156 to 140, with 16 abstentions.
Had he lost, he would have had to resign, thrusting Italy deeper into political turmoil and potentially opening the way to new national elections, two years ahead of schedule.
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The small Italia Viva party, headed by former prime minister Matteo Renzi, abandoned the cabinet in a row over Conte’s handling of the coronavirus health crisis and economic recession. It abstained on Tuesday, leaving the door open for a possible return to the coalition if its policy demands are met.
Conte and his main partners, the 5-Star Movement and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), appeared unwilling to kiss and make up.