The same day, the Italian cabinet dissolved after holding a final session with Letta, paving the way for  forming a new government. A day earlier Letta’s ruling Democratic Party (PD) held an extraordinary meeting, forcing Letta to quit the post. At the meeting, the PD withdrew its support to Letta and turned to back Matteo Renzi, mayor of Florence, to be a prime minister candidate. A new cabinet lineup is likely to be submitted next week and Renzi is to be named for prime minister. In that case, 39-year-old Renzi will become the youngest prime minister in the history of the Italian republic and the third premier in the past 3 years to take power without any election.

On Friday, President Giorgio Napolitano started consulting political parties on forming a new government after Letta’s resignation.