Italian Premier Draghi says he will resign after losing ally

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Mario Draghi has told his Cabinet he will offer his resignation on Thursday evening to the nation's president, following the refusal of a populist coalition ally to support a key government bill.

“The majority of national unity that has sustained this government from its creation doesn't exist any more,” Draghi said in a statement.

It will be up to Italian President Sergio Mattarella to accept or reject the resignation. The president could also ask Draghi to go before Parliament in the coming days to seek a formal vote on the government itself, to see if the squabbling allies would rally around him.

But if the government crisis can't be resolved quickly, Mattarella could pull the plug on Parliament, setting the stage for an early election as soon as September.

As of now, Parliament's term expires in spring 2023.

Hours earlier, Draghi and his pandemic unity government won a confidence vote, 172-39, in the Senate despite the refusal by the populist 5-Star Movement to back the bill, which earmarks 26 billion euros to help consumers and industries struggling with soaring energy prices.

But the snub, orchestrated by 5-Star leader Giuseppe Conte, Draghi's predecessor, had already done its damage.

Draghi's broad coalition was designed to help Italy recover from the coronavirus pandemic, and included parties from both the left and the right.

He noted he had made clear when he took office in February 2021 that his government “would only have gone forward if there was the clear prospective to be able to realise the government program” that was the basis of the governing coalition.

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