Italy is facing a political crisis after Matteo Renzi forced his party’s ministers out of the coalition government.
Matteo Renzi, former Italian Prime Minister (2014-2016) and leader of Italia Viva, announced on Wednesday, in a press conference, the resignation of the ministers of Agriculture, Teresa Bellanova, and of Equality, Elena Bonetti, belonging to his party, from the coalition government.
For weeks now, Renzi has been launching internal attacks and ultimatums against the current premier of the country, Giuseppe Conte, who is leading a coalition between the anti-system of the 5 Star Movement (M5E), the center-left Democratic Party (PD) and the leftist Free and Equal (LeU).
Earlier, on the same day on Wednesday, Conte had said that he hoped that Renzi would not withdraw his ministers from the Cabinet, warning that the country would not be able to understand why the government collapsed in the midst of the current health crisis caused by the new coronavirus pandemic, which caused COVID-19.
With the resignation of the aforementioned ministers, Italy’s coalition government already faces a threat, as it loses the support of Italia Viva, which is considered a party with a key role in maintaining a majority in Parliament.
Renzi is a critic of Conte’s management of the pandemic and its plan to rebuild the country by spending the funds granted by the European Union (EU) -more than 240 billion dollars-.
In case Conte does not reach an agreement with Renzi or finds a number of senators that may be willing to guarantee the continuity of the government, the Italian premier should present his resignation in the next days to the president of the country, Sergio Mattarella.
All these events are taking place at a time when Italy has been forced to extend the state of emergency, at least until April 30, due to the pandemic, which has left, so far, a balance of almost 80,000 deaths in the country.
by Xavier Cuesta – European Correspondent – VN