Italy set for early elections after Draghi quits

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 21 - The Italian parliament is set to be dissolved for early elections after Premier Mario Draghi resigned on Thursday following the collapse of his ruling coalition.
    Draghi quit after three of the big parties in his coalition, Matteo Salvini's right-wing League, ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) and the 5-Star Movement (M5S), failed to take part in a confidence vote in the Senate on a resolution backing him on Wednesday.
    President Sergio Mattarella is meeting Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico and Senate Speaker Elisabetta Casellati to discuss the arrangements for the dissolution of parliament later on Thursday.
    September 25 is seen as a possible date for the vote.
    There had been concerns that this could clash with a Jewish holiday but the nation's Jewish Community said Thursday that holding the election on this day would not be a problem for them.
    The president's office has said that the outgoing government will stay in office for everyday administration for the time being.
    Addressing the Lower House before meeting Mattarella to resign, the former president of the European Central Bank thanked the lawmakers present, most of whom had supported his government of national unity over the last year and a half.
    He appeared relaxed and cheerful, after tense moments on Wednesday during his reply to criticism of his call for the parties to renew the "pact of trust" that his government was based on, when he denied having asked to be given "full powers".
    "Sometimes even the hearts of central bankers get used," he quipped, referring to a recent joke he made about a transplant recipient preferring the heart of a central banker to that of another donor because it had 'never been used'.
    "Thank you for all the work done in this period".
    Draghi basically confirmed the resignation he presented last week when the M5S snubbed a confidence vote on a decree, sparking a crisis of government even though the executive comfortably won the vote.
    Mattarella initially reused to accept the resignation, telling Draghi to report to parliament, which he did on Wednesday.
    (ANSA).