Italian president rejects PM's resignation

Mario Draghi said he would resign as Italian prime minister on Thursday, after a party in his ruling coalition did not participate in a confidence vote.

“I will tender my resignation to the president of the republic this evening,” Draghi told the cabinet, according to a statement released by his office.

“The national unity coalition that backed this government no longer exists,” he added.

His government collapsed on Thursday after the 5-Star Movement, one of its members, failed to support a parliamentary confidence vote including measures to offset the cost of living crisis.

Straight after the vote, Draghi headed to the Quirinale Palace in Rome to meet President Sergio Mattarella, the supreme arbiter in Italian politics, and the two men held talks for almost an hour.

Draghi, 74, returned to his office without commenting on what they had discussed.

The confidence vote had become a focal point for tensions within Draghi’s broad coalition as its parties prepare to fight each other in a national election due by early 2023.