Summary

Today is expected to mark the end of the League-Five Star Movement (M5S) coalition that has ruled Italy since the 2018 general election. The death knell will sound when Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte – the symbolic face of the administration – offers an expected resignation to President Sergio Mattarella.

But the burning question is: What comes next? Will Salvini’s League be given an opportunity to convert its high-flying poll numbers into wider parliamentary representation, or will two erstwhile enemies in M5S and the Democratic Party band together to thwart the League’s political maneuverings?