The current Senator of Italy, former Prime Minister and head of the political party ‘Italia Viva’ (IV), Matteo Renzi will hold a press conference on 13 January 2021 in the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome.
ALBERTO PIZZOLI | AFP | Getty Images
LONDON – Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced on Wednesday that he intends to remove his centrist party from the ruling coalition and plunge the country back into political chaos as it fights coronavirus revival.
Renzi said at a press conference with great anticipation that two ministers from his Italia Viva party would resign. This leaves the government without a majority in parliament and on the verge of collapse.
Support for Renzi’s party was critical to the survival of the coalition led by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the center-left Democratic Party.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he hoped Renzi would not remove his ministers from the cabinet, warning that the country would not be able to understand why the government had collapsed in the midst of the ongoing health crisis.
The Five Star Movement and Democratic Party also urged Renzi to preserve the unity of the ruling government at a time when the country is trying to get citizens vaccinated and prevent the economy from weakening further.
The Southern European nation is no stranger to political conflict, tension and scandals. Slim majorities in Rome have led to more than 60 governments since World War II.
However, the latest political dispute comes at a particularly painful moment, with the number of coronavirus infections and deaths in Italy currently being the highest in Europe. The difference of opinion is about EU funds and how it will recharge the Italian economy after the pandemic.
To date, Italy has recorded 2.3 million Covid-19 cases and 79,819 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The country’s gross domestic product is forecast to fall by around 10% in 2020.