Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Tuesday, 26 January tendered his resignation following widespread criticism of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
Conte had previously on the first of two confidence votes at the Lower House of Parliament won by 321 in favour, 259 against and 27 abstaining.
Conte had sought the confidence vote on 19 January after former prime minister Matteo Renzi, now a senator who leads the Italia Viva party, pulled out of the ruling majority last week, sparking a government crisis, reports Xinhua news agency.
Renzi objected to Conte’s plans for spending 209 billion euros ($254 billion) of European Union (EU) recovery funds which are part of a 750 billion euros EU rescue for the COVID crisis.
On 20 January, Conte managed to win a Senate vote, but without an absolute majority.
Italy, one of the hardest-hit European countries, has so far reported a total of 2,475,372 coronavirus cases and 85,881 deaths.
(With inputs from IANS.)
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