Italy was left rudderless as Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned in January after weeks of turmoil in his ruling coalition. He tendered his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella, the effective head of state in Italy. Through his general secretary, who formally announced the resignation, Mattarella invited Conte to stay on in a caretaker capacity pending discussions on what happens next.

Conte lost his absolute majority in Italy’s Senate, despite winning two votes of confidence in parliament last week. The defection of a crucial ally, former premier Matteo Renzi, greatly stymied the government’s ability to effectively manage the pandemic and its effect on the country’s already weak economy.

For 15 months, Conte headed the European country in collaboration with its largest party in parliament, the 5-star Movement, and Matteo Salvini’s League party. But bickering led to the withdrawal of Salvini after he failed to win the premiership and that first government collapsed.

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 euro EU rescue for the Covid crisis. On January 20, Conte managed to win a Senate vote, but without an absolute majority.