President Sergio Mattarella on
Wednesday stressed to Premier Giuseppe Conte the need to emerge
rapidly from uncertainty amid the alarming situation due to the
COVID pandemic during talks on an apparently looming government
crisis, sources at the presidential palace said.
They said Conte had talks on cabinet's approval of the COVID
Recovery Plan and the state of relations within the ruling
coalition, after ex-premier and centrist Italia Viva (IV) leader
Matteo Renzi repeatedly threatened to pull IV out of the
government over alleged flaws in the government's
222.9-billion-euro Recovery Plan.
Political observers say Conte may resign, there may be a new
Conte-led government or merely a reshuffle, or a snap election
where the right-wing opposition is favoured.
Renzi is set to address a press conference at 17:30 local (15:30
GMT) to announce his decision after IV's two ministers abstained
in the approval of the Recovery Plan Tuesday night.
Mattarella will be the arbiter of any government crisis.
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