Italy has been plunged into yet another crisis – on top of the pandemic and economic recession, we're facing political chaos. Our daily news bulletins now switch between counting COVID-19 deaths and counting votes against the government.
The turmoil began a few weeks ago, when the former prime minister and centrist, Senator Matteo Renzi, pulled his small Italia Viva party out of the governing coalition. Though the coalition government, led by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, won subsequent votes of confidence in parliament, he won this vote in the senate narrowly, 156 to 140.
After wobbling and trying to hang on, today Conte is expected to resign. Afterwards, he can try to form a new coalition. Against him are right-wing and far-right parties including Lega, led by Senator Matteo Salvini, and Fratelli d’Italia, led by MP Giorgia Meloni, which are pushing for a general election, which they seem sure they would win.
