Italian PM resigns amid pandemic criticism

Rome: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Tuesday handed in his resignation to President Sergion Mattarella. The president has asked Conte to lead the government in a caretaker capacity.

The president is taking consultation with political parties to deliberate on future course of action. It is reported that the country will have snap elections as there is no stable majority for any party.

Earlier on Tuesday, confirmed to his Cabinet that he would tender his resignation following widespread criticism of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Conte, who headed two coalition governments since 2018.

Tuesday's development comes exactly a week after Conte won the first of two confidence votes at the Lower House of Parliament by 321 in favour, 259 against and 27 abstaining.

Conte sought the confidence vote on January 19 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 January 20, Conte managed to win a Senate vote, but without an absolute majority.

Italy, one of hardest-hit European countries, has so far reported a total of 2,475,372 coronavirus cases and 85,881 deaths.