Italian PM to resign amid pandemic criticism

Rome: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte 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, is meeting President Sergio Mattarella, who will decide on the Prime Minister's future, the BBC reported.

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.