Prime Minister Mario Draghi won the vote with 95 yes and 39 no votes. But three parties in his coalition have withdrawn their confidence. New elections therefore seem realistic.

Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi clearly missed the broad approval he wanted in the vote of confidence in the Senate. The 74-year-old won the vote in Rome on Wednesday evening with 95 yes votes and 39 no votes, but his major governing parties Lega, Forza Italia and the Five Star Movement did not vote. It is therefore likely that Draghi could again offer his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella.

After his resignation, which was rejected by the President last week, Draghi spoke before the Senate on Wednesday. He called on all parliamentarians in his multi-party government to put their differences aside and express their confidence in the executive for the good of the country. The crisis in Rome had escalated because the Five Star Movement had not expressed its confidence in the government – in which it sits as an important party – the previous week.

Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio from the party Insieme per il futuro (Together for the future) accused the politicians of failure. »They gambled with the future of the Italians. The consequences of this tragic election will go down in history,” said the 36-year-old. "From tomorrow nothing will be the same as it was before," said ex-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.