Coalition Allies Urge Italy’s Conte to Quit Before Senate Vote

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s coalition allies are pressing him to step down before a Rome Senate vote they expect he will lose, in a tactical move to allow him a chance to try to form a new government.

The Five Star Movement, the biggest force in the coalition, and lawmakers of the center-left Democratic Party are both urging the premier to resign after a junior ally ditched the alliance, according to officials who declined to be named on confidential talks.

The 56-year-old Conte is considering offering his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella, who oversees forming new governments, on Monday or Tuesday, according to officials who asked not to be named discussing confidential deliberations.

He faces a vote in the Senate this week on a justice report which he may lose. By stepping aside preemptively, he’s hoping he’ll get asked to form a new government.

After resisting pressure to quit following the defection earlier this month of the Italy Alive party led by former Premier Matteo Renzi, Conte may conclude that resigning now and coming back to head a “unity government” is his best option, the officials said.