The date was announced at a meeting of the Council of Ministers, Italian news agencies ANSA and Adnkronos reported based on information from attendees. Mario Draghi, who will remain as prime minister until then, thanked Mattarella for his trust. “We can be very proud of the work we have done on behalf of the president for all citizens,” he said.
He called on lawmakers to continue to work on purpose in the coming weeks.
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There is no parliamentary support for the government and no prospect of a new majority.
Earlier today, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi tendered his resignation as expected after again failing to restore unity among the coalition parties. Mattarella accepted the resignation and asked him to continue to lead the caretaker government.
“The discussion, the vote itself and the way this vote went yesterday in the Senate” show that there is “no parliamentary support for the government and no prospect of a new majority,” he said. “That situation has made the early dissolution of parliament inevitable, although that is always the last option,” Mattarella emphasized.
Fratelli d’Italia, the post-fascist party led by president Giorgia Meloni, leads the Democratic Party (22%) and the League (14%). Forza Italia would receive 7.4 percent of the vote and the Five Star Movement 11.2 percent.