Italian Senate Head Arrives At Presidential Palace For Consultations Amid Gov't Crisis

Italian Senate Head Arrives at Presidential Palace for Consultations Amid Gov't Crisis

Chairwoman of the Italian upper house, Maria Elisabetta Casellati, has arrived at the presidential palace for consultations with President Sergio Mattarella on the formation of a new government, the RAI TV channel broadcast reported

GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) Chairwoman of the Italian upper house, Maria Elisabetta Casellati, has arrived at the presidential palace for consultations with President Sergio Mattarella on the formation of a new government, the RAI tv channel broadcast reported.

Around an hour later, the head of the lower house, Roberto Fico, is expected to hold consultations on the same issue with Mattarella.

On Tuesday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte officially stepped down after failing to secure an absolute majority in the senate in the vote of confidence. Even though he received a simple majority of votes (156), it was too slim to count on parliamentary support in passing important legislative acts.

At the moment, the most likely scenario is that Conte will be able to find a wider support of political forces in the parliament, mainly due to a mixed group of centrists. However, a technical government with a new head, or even early general elections are also possible.

The government crisis played out after Italia Viva party withdrew from the governing coalition after its two ministers resigned from the cabinet in protest against the economic recovery plan, or National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), promoted by Conte and adopted. PNRR specifies how Italy is going to administer funds that it is going to receive from the European Union's Next Generation instrument.