The next steps after today's resignation of the Italian Prime Minister 

The Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, will today present his resignation to the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, having been unable to achieve a solid majority after the departure of Matteo Renzi's Italia Viva party from the Executive, and from this point onwards a series of institutional steps will be taken in the search for a new government. 

Conte will preside over the Council of Ministers at 9:00 am (8:00 GMT) to announce his decision and then go to the Quirinale Palace, the seat of the presidency of the Republic, to present his resignation. 

Once he has received the prime minister's resignation, Mattarella will open consultations, presumably tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday, with the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate and the parliamentary groups. 

After these consultations, which will last a couple of days, the head of state may give a mandate to an institutional figure - in 2018 he conferred it on the presidents of the two parliamentary chambers - to explore possible majorities and the figure of a new leader if he sees that Conte does not stand a chance. 

But Conte's intention is for Mattarella to entrust him with a new mandate to test possible new majorities: the outgoing prime minister would accept on a provisional basis and would return after a few days to communicate whether he has support. 

If he does not, he would inform President Mattarella, who would then have to reopen consultations to consider another name that would bring together a majority, or, if it proves impossible to form a new government, decide to dissolve the chambers and hold elections. 

Another hypothesis is to create a technocratic government, and names such as the former president of the Constitutional Court Marta Cartabia, the economist Carlo Cottarelli and the current governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco, are already circulating to guide the country until the early elections in June. 

According to Italian media, Conte's chances of forming a government are dwindling as it is not believed that a reconciliation with Renzi is possible. 

The leader of the conservative Forza Italia, Silvio Berlusconi, for his part, made it clear that he will not support Conte's current government and that the only solution is a government "that represents the substantial unity of the country at a time of emergency" because "any other solution means prolonging a paralysis that the country cannot afford". 

After Conte's resignation, and until a new government takes office, the outgoing government remains in office to conduct current affairs, including the possible issuing of decree laws in cases of necessity and urgency. 

With the crisis of government, all parliamentary activity comes to a halt, except for urgent acts such as the approval of decrees that have expired. The ordinary business of the Houses is resumed only after the new Executive has obtained the confidence of Parliament.