Italian President Sergio Mattarella approved the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Reported by Corriere della Sera.

At the same time, the Draghi government remains to work for the "conduct of current affairs." Early parliamentary elections may take place on 2 or 9 October. After them, the President of the Republic will choose a new Prime Minister of Italy.

On July 20, Draghi received the support of the upper house of the Italian Parliament. However, the prime minister failed to gain the confidence of the majority - less than half of the senators participated in the vote. Three parties of the ruling coalition abandoned the procedure: 5 Star Movement, Forward Italy and the League. Only 95 parliamentarians out of 133 who voted were in favor.

On July 14, Draghi tried to resign after the populist 5 Star Movement refused to support a €26bn citizen compensation bill for inflation and rising energy prices. However, the president of the republic did not approve the departure of the prime minister.

This was preceded by a split in the 5 Star Movement, led by former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, due to the different opinions of the participants regarding the supply of weapons to Kyiv. Foreign Minister Di Maio, having supported the sending of military aid to Ukraine, left the party and decided to create his own political organization called Together for the Future. He was followed by several dozen members of the same party.

Mario Draghi, 74, has served as the country's prime minister since February 2021. Previously, he was the chairman of the European Central Bank for 8 years. Draghi denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine and promoted tough EU sanctions against Moscow.