Italian President Sergio Mattarella begins talks with key players on Wednesday in a bid to end Italy's political limbo the day after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned.
The usually mild-mannered Conte handed in his resignation after lashing out at far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for pursuing his own interests by pulling the plug on the ruling coalition with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S).
The move left the eurozone's third largest economy in a political vacuum until Mattarella decides whether to form a new coalition or call an election after talks with parties in the coming days.
Meanwhile Mattarella charged Conte with heading a caretaker administration, pending consultations on a new government which are set to begin at 1400 GMT.
Italy's constitution says that Mattarella should first consult former presidents, meaning Senator Giorgio Napolitano, 94, who was in the job from 2006-2015.
Those talks will be by telephone as Napolitano is not in Rome, and will be followed by talks with house speakers and the leaders of political groups.
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A range of options are now open to Mattarella, with a new government possible as soon as Friday.
"Making citizens vote is the essence of democracy, asking them to vote every year is irresponsible," Conte said as League senators booed and hissed.
<p dejavu="" sans",="" "liberation="" freesans,="" sans-serif;="" margin:="" 10px="" 0px="" !important;"=""> The political crisis has raised concerns about the Italian economy, whose debt ratio at 132 percent of gross domestic product is the second-biggest in the eurozone after Greece.Agence France Presse
