By Crispian Balmer and Angelo Amante
ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte faced pressure from within his own coalition on Monday to resign and try to put together a new government after lawmakers warned he faced defeat in parliament without an overhaul.
Italy has had 66 governments since World War Two and administrations are regularly ripped up and then pieced back together in tortuous, behind-the-scenes talks that open the way for cabinet reshuffles and policy reviews.
However, once a prime minister resigns, there is no guarantee that a new coalition can form and always a risk that early elections might end up as the only viable solution.
Conte lost his absolute majority in the upper house Senate last week when a junior partner, the Italia Viva party headed by former premier Matteo Renzi, quit in a row over the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis and economic recession.
The prime minister is resisting resigning for fear that he might not be reappointed, and has instead tried to draw centrist and unaligned senators into his camp with vague promises of a new government pact and possible ministerial positions.
But his efforts have floundered and lawmakers from the centre-left coalition Democratic Party (PD) said he needed to stand down and open formal negotiations to create a new coalition. If he didn’t, he faced defeat in a vote on the justice system in the Senate this week, they warned.
Trying to allay his fears of a political imbroglio, PD lawmakers said they would support him to lead a new cabinet.
Conte has no direct party affiliation but is close to the largest coalition group, the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement. It has reiterated its support for him, and has also made clear that it does want any attempt at reconciling with Renzi.
“He is a problem and cannot be part of the solution,” said Stefano Patuanelli, industry minister and a 5-Star politician.
Renzi has indicated he would return to the coalition on the condition that Conte accepts a string of demands.
If the prime minister shuns him, his path to securing a solid parliamentary majority will be much more difficult, with relatively few senators seen as open to joining the government.
Looking to put pressure on waverers, the main ruling parties have warned that snap elections, two years ahead of schedule, will be the only way out of the impasse unless a solution is rapidly found.
A recent reform cut by one-third the number of parliamentary seats up for grabs at the next national ballot, meaning that many of the current lawmakers are unlikely to win re-election, whatever the result.
This means that there will be no rush in parliament for a vote, putting pressure on party leaders to find a compromise.
(Additional reporting by Gavin Jones and Giuseppe Fonte; editing by Mark Heinrich)
