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image copyrightGetty Imagesimage captionMatteo Renzi (pictured) criticises PM Conte's crisis management
The coalition government of centrist Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is in chaos after ex-PM Matteo Renzi withdrew his tiny party from it.
Mr Renzi objects to Mr Conte's plans for spending €209bn (£186bn; $254bn) of EU recovery funds – part of a huge EU aid package for the Covid crisis.
The withdrawal of Mr Renzi's Italia Viva leaves Mr Conte lacking a majority in the upper house, the Senate.
A snap election is a possibility, but Mr Renzi has very low ratings in polls.
In an Ipsos poll on Tuesday, 73% of respondents agreed that Mr Renzi was "pursuing his personal interests and those of his party" by triggering the political crisis.
His Italia Viva party, formed in 2019, polls less than 3%, but on Wednesday two ministers from the party – Elena Bonetti (minister for families) and Teresa Bellanova (agriculture) – resigned from the cabinet, along with a junior minister.