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| Italian Senator Matteo Renzi speaks during a press conference in Rome, Italy, Jan. 13. / Xinhua-Yonhap |
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was battling Thursday to keep his government afloat after a key coalition partner withdrew, sparking a political crisis in the middle of a raging pandemic.
Lawmakers on all sides demanded he set out what will happen next following the dramatic exit of former premier Matteo Renzi's Italia Viva party on Wednesday evening.
The speaker of the lower house of parliament, Roberto Fico, suspended Thursday's proceedings and said he would call a meeting of all party chiefs.
"I will contact Conte for the request to come to the chamber," he said, adding: "This House is not and cannot be indifferent to what is happening."
Renzi's two cabinet ministers and a junior minister quit the government Wednesday, breaking up the ruling centre-left coalition that has been in office in September 2019. (AFP)
