According to BNN, Baltic News Network, quoting Al Jazeera reporting, the Italian government has collapsed.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has resigned following a decision by the far-right League party to present a no-confidence motion in the 14-month old coalition government.
The move on Tuesday leaves Italy in a political vacuum until President Sergio Mattarella decides whether to form a new coalition or call an election after talks with parties in the coming days.
Mattarella charged Conte with heading a caretaker administration after he handed in his resignation, pending consultations on a new government which are set to begin at 14:00 GMT on Wednesday.
The crisis began on August 8 when Matteo Salvini, the head of the League party, declared his alliance with the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement was dead and called for elections, a move he hopes will make him prime minister.
Addressing parliament on the turmoil unleashed by the League's move, Conte accused Salvini, who is also deputy prime minister and interior minister, of trying to drag down the coalition for personal and political gain, and putting the nation at risk of financial instability.
"I'm ending this government experience here," Conte, who does not belong to either of the coalition parties, said in his almost hour-long speech to the chamber.
Widespread reporting including:
(Score: 2) by EJ on Thursday August 22 2019, @02:46AM (2 children)
This is the kind of thing you read in history books like an Archduke being assassinated.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 22 2019, @02:56AM (1 child)
It's Italy. They argue about everything but surrender or run away when someone raises a fist. The worst that could happen is a shortage of Dominoes Pizza or spaghetti tree pickers.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday August 22 2019, @03:21AM
There is no Domino pizza here, pal. If I ever get to test one I will tell you why. Even if the millennials with their alcohol-burned taste buds have already welcomed Oreos and Starbucks.
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