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Rome (AP) - Italy, badly hit by the corona pandemic, is looking for a new government.
After Matteo Renzi's mini-party Italia Viva withdrew from the cabinet of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, the center-left alliance was left without a majority in parliament in Rome.
The two ministers from Italia Viva resigned on Wednesday.
For today, explorations about ways out of the crisis and possible new alliances were expected.
There was a great deal of speculation about this in Italy.
After Renzi's splinter party left, the entire government, which is dominated by the populist five-star movement and the Social Democrats (PD), is shaking because of the tight majority.
It is the 66th government of the Italian Republic - and the second cabinet led by Conte.
According to media reports, the future of the 56-year-old independent lawyer was also considered uncertain.
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Ex-Prime Minister Renzi (46) had accused Conte of serious mistakes in the fight against the corona pandemic.
Conte’s plans to use billions in EU aid in the fight against corona are controversial between the two opponents.
Conte accused Italia Viva of harming the country at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, according to the Ansa news agency.
Leading politicians from the ranks of the Five Star Movement and the PD assured in statements that they wanted to keep Conte as prime minister.
Renzi's party has 18 senators in the Senate, the smaller chamber of parliament.
In the larger Chamber of Deputies, she has so far won 30 votes for the old coalition.
So far, Conte has sometimes struggled to achieve majorities.
Numerous political options for ways out of the crisis were discussed in the media.
Then the prime minister could replace the ministers in the cabinet and put the vote of confidence in parliament - in the hope of defectors from other ranks and members of a mixed group.
But that would hardly make his situation stable.
He could also submit his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella.
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It cannot be ruled out that Renzi might want to renegotiate.
Some believe it is possible that he will return to the center-left alliance.
Under which premier is considered open.
A unity government with forces from the right-wing opposition or a so-called expert government were also brought into play.
If all of this is out of the question, there could be early elections in the country of 60 million people.
This is particularly trying to prevent the five-star movement, which fears halving the votes compared to the 2018 parliamentary election.
At that time it came to just under 33 percent.
Renzi is also against elections.
Surveys see Italia Viva currently at around three percent.
Renzi only founded the party in 2019 after leaving the PD.
The right-wing opposition, on the other hand, sees itself as a bloc in a good starting position with regard to polls.
In Italy, more than 80,000 people have officially died in connection with the coronavirus since February 2020.
The economy of the Mediterranean country is stalling, the debt mountain of the state is increasing enormously due to the costs of the pandemic.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210114-99-17962 / 2