Italian PM Draghi renders resignation, President rejects it

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said he would resign on Thursday after the 5-Star Movement, a party in his ruling coalition failed to support a confidence vote, plunging Italy into political chaos.

“I will tender my resignation to the president of the republic this evening,” Draghi told the cabinet, according to a statement released by his office.

“The national unity coalition that backed this government no longer exists,” added Draghi, the former European Central Bank president who has been prime minister of a broad coalition since February 2021.

The confidence vote had become a focal point for tensions within Draghi’s government as its parties prepare to fight each other in a national election due by early 2023.

The decision by the 5-Star party to boycott the confidence vote on Thursday triggered the sequence of events that prompted the 74-year-old Draghi to say he would quit.

Draghi had said he would not want to lead a government without 5-Star, which emerged as the largest party in the previous election in 2018 but has since suffered defections and a loss of public support.

The Italian head of state on Thursday rejected the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi and asked him to address parliament to get a clear picture of the political situation, a statement from President Sergio Mattarella’s office said.