ROME, Aug. 20 : Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told the Senate on Tuesday that he would resign after ongoing parliament debate.
“At the end of this debate, I will go to the president of the Republic to inform him about the end of this government’s experience, and to present my resignations as prime minister,” Conte told senators in a speech in the early afternoon.
Conte’s address to the upper house and his announcement followed the decision of far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini in early August to submit a no-confidence motion against the prime minister, with the declared aim of calling snap elections.
Salvini’s anti-immigrant League party has been supporting the cabinet in coalition with anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) since the government was sworn in on June 1, 2018.
Addressing the Senate on Tuesday, Conte said the League party’s decision to present the no-confidence motion — and practically triggering this crisis — was “grave”, and could have political and economic consequences for the country.
Conte’s speech to the upper house was a first response to the no-confidence motion submitted by the League.
In case it loses a no-confidence vote in parliament, any Italian cabinet must resign, according to the constitution. Salvini’s resolve to put an early end to the coalition government after only 14 months in office was “objectively a serious decision, which entails serious consequences for the country’s political and economic life,” Conte said.
The prime minister also stressed the government crisis would expose Italy at possible financial risks, putting the approval of the next budget law at risk, and consequently making the increase of VAT more likely.
