Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigns - UPDATED

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigns - UPDATED
# 26 January 2021 16:13 (UTC +04:00)

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte stood down on Tuesday amid criticism of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, APA reports.

President Sergio Mattarella confirmed he had accepted Conte's resignation. The prime minister held a Cabinet meeting earlier this morning to inform the government of his plans.

Conte, in power since 2018, quit after ex-PM Matteo Renzi pulled his Italia Viva party out of the governing coalition.

Renzi opposed Conte's plans for spending more than €200 billion ($243 billion) of EU recovery fund cash.

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Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is set to hand in his resignation, following criticism of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, APA reports citing BBC.

More than 85,000 Italians have died with Covid-19.

Mr Conte hopes to be given a mandate by the president to form a stronger government, after losing his majority in the Senate.

Should he fail to do so, the task could fall to someone else and - failing that - fresh elections will be held.

The law professor, who has headed two coalition governments since 2018, is meeting President Sergio Mattarella, who has to decide the way ahead.

Earlier on Tuesday Mr Conte confirmed to his cabinet that he would tender his resignation.

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