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Italian PM Resigns, Plunging Country Into Fresh Political Turmoil

Jamie Dettmer

   Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte handed in his resignation
   Tuesday, the opening shot in a bid to shape a new, more stable
   "government of national safety." His resignation, which came after his
   uneasy coalition government lost the support of a junior center-left
   governing partner, has plunged the pandemic-struck country into fresh
   political turmoil.
   Conte is focusing on wooing the wily Silvio Berlusconi's center-right
   Forza Italia party, which could be wiped out if fresh elections have to
   be held in the event a new coalition can't be pieced together.
   A snap election likely would see the populist Lega Party of Matteo
   Salvini and the far-right Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy), both
   Euro-skeptic, storm to victory--an outcome that would prompt jitters in
   Brussels and complicate Italy's relations with the Democratic
   administration in Washington.
   Salvini supporters were caught on tape in 2018 discussing in Moscow
   diverting illegally the profits from a discounted oil deal to the Lega
   Party, and the Fratelli d'Italia wants Western sanctions on Moscow
   lifted. It has called for a revision of all international treaties,
   including those governing Italy's membership of the eurozone and NATO,
   in favor of a strategic tie-up with Russia.
   The beleaguered 56-year-old Conte also is trying to persuade Matteo
   Renzi and his Italia Viva faction to rejoin the coalition comprising
   the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the leftist Democratic
   Party. Renzi's decision to withdraw his support from Conte's government
   last week is widely seen as a scheme to secure more power for himself
   and cabinet roles for some of his 18 senators.
   Last week, Conte survived two confidence votes in the Italian
   parliament, but had to do so on the back of votes from odd bedfellows.
   They included a parliamentarian nicknamed Berlusconi's "nurse" for her
   role in organizing media mogul Berlusconi's infamous sex parties and a
   lawmaker who argues cannabis can cure COVID-19 and says coronavirus
   vaccines cause facial paralysis.
   Conte, whose own favorability ratings are high in the opinion polls,
   still controls a majority in the lower parliamentary chamber, the House
   of Deputies, but has only minority backing in the Senate. Deprived of a
   Senate majority, Conte is unable to pass important legislation.
   Italy is no stranger to political instability and has seen governments
   come and go with alarming rapidity. Conte is the country's 66th leader
   in 75 years. But this last bout of political turmoil comes at a time of
   national emergency and new economic challenges amid the pandemic.
   Italy was the first European country to be struck by the coronavirus,
   becoming the first country to impose a national lockdown. After the
   government loosened restrictions, infection rates climbed with the
   second wave proving worse than the first. Strict pandemic restrictions
   over Christmas have slowed contagion rates, but added crippling costs
   to the country's struggling economy.

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