Italy’s president has dissolved Parliament, paving the way for an early election after Premier Mario Draghi’s resignation.
Mr Draghi resigned on Thursday after his ruling coalition fell apart.
The moves dealt a destabilising blow to Italy and Europe at a time of inflation and economic uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
No date was set but President Sergio Mattarella said the new election must be held within 70 days under Italy’s Constitution.
He said he took the step because the lack of support for Mr Draghi also indicated there was “no possibility” of forming another government that could carry a majority.
Parliament’s five-year-term would have expired in March 2023.
Mr Draghi tendered his resignation to Mr Mattarella during a morning meeting at the Quirinale Palace. Mr Mattarella, who rejected a similar resignation offer from the premier last week, asked Mr Draghi’s government to remain on in a caretaker capacity, the president’s office said.
Italy is facing soaring prices for everything from food to household utilities as a result of Moscow’s invasion. It is also suffering through a prolonged drought that is threatening crops and struggling to implement its EU-financed pandemic recovery programme.
Any instability in Italy could ripple out to the rest of Europe, also facing economic trouble, and deprive the EU of a respected statesman as it seeks to keep up a united front against Russia.
Mr Draghi, who is not a politician but a former central banker, was brought in 17 months ago to navigate the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. But his government of national unity imploded on Wednesday after members of his uneasy coalition of right, left and populists rebuffed his appeal to band back together to finish the Parliament’s natural term.
Instead, the centre-right Forza Italia and League parties and the populist 5-Star Movement boycotted a confidence vote in the Senate.
“Thank you for all the work done together in this period,” Mr Draghi told the lower Chamber of Deputies on Thursday morning before going to see Mattarella.
Dubbed “Super Mario” for helping to lead the eurozone out of its debt crisis when he was head of the European Central Bank, Mr Draghi played a similar calming role in Italy in recent months.
His presence helped reassure financial markets about the debt-laden nation’s public finances, and he managed to keep the country on track with economic reforms that the EU made a condition of its 200 billion-euro (£170 billion) pandemic recovery package.
He was a staunch supporter of Ukraine and became a leading voice in Europe’s response to Russia’s invasion — one of the issues that contributed to his downfall since the 5-Stars rankled at Italian military help for Ukraine.
While he could not keep his fractious coalition together, Mr Draghi appeared to still have broad support among the Italian public, many of whom have taken to the streets or signed open letters in recent weeks to plead with him to stay on.
Italian newspapers on Thursday were united in their outrage at the outcome.
“Shame,” headlined La Stampa on the front page. “Italy Betrayed,” said La Repubblica.
Nicola Nobile, associate director at Oxford Economics, warned Mr Draghi’s departure and the prospect that the country would not have a fully functioning government for months could exacerbate economic turbulence in Italy, which investors worry is carrying too much debt and which was already looking at a marked slowdown for the second half of the year.
Mr Mattarella had tapped Mr Draghi to pull Italy out of the pandemic last year. But last week, the 5-Stars boycotted a confidence vote tied to a Bill aimed at helping Italians endure the cost-of-living crisis, prompting Mr Draghi to offer to resign a first time.
Mr Mattarella rejected that offer and asked Draghi to return to Parliament to brief it on the situation. The premier did so on Wednesday, appealing to party leaders to listen to the calls for unity from ordinary Italians.
“You don’t have to give the answer to me. You have to give it to all Italians,” he said.
Opinion polls have indicated the centre-left Democratic Party and the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, which had remained in the opposition, are neck-and-neck.
Democrat leader Enrico Letta said Parliament had betrayed Italy.
“Let Italians show at the ballot that they are smarter than their representatives,” he tweeted.
The Brothers of Italy has long been allied with the centre-right Forza Italia of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi and the League of Matteo Salvini, suggesting that a centre-right alliance would likely prevail in any election and could propel Brothers’ leader Giorgia Meloni to become Italy’s first female premier.
Ms Meloni, who has been gunning for an early election since before the crisis erupted, said: “The will of the people is expressed in one way: by voting. Let’s give hope and strength back to Italy.”
Some commentators noted that Mr Draghi’s government, which has been among Europe’s strongest supporters of Ukraine, collapsed in large part thanks to political leaders who previously had ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Silvio Berlusconi has vacationed with Putin and considered him a friend; Salvini opposed EU sanctions against Russia after its 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula; and 5-Star leader Giuseppe Conte opposed Italian military aid to Ukraine.
After 5-Star senators boycotted last week’s vote, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio accused Conte of giving Putin a gift.
