A statement on Thursday morning from Italian president Sergio Mattarella’s office announced the decision by Italian prime minister Mario Draghi to resign.  “After having reported on yesterday’s discussion and vote in the Senate, [Draghi] reiterated his and his government’s resignation,” the statement read. “The President has taken note of it. The Government remains in office for the handling of current affairs.”

Earlier in the morning, Draghi had addressed the lower house of Italy’s parliament and said that he would meet with Mattarella. “After yesterday’s debate I have drawn my conclusions,” he told the chamber, referring to a walk out by the MPs from the right-wing Forza Italia and League and populist Five Star Movement ahead of a vote of confidence.

The former president of the European Central Bank----had attempted to resign last week on 14 July after Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini’s League withdrew their support from his coalition government.

“His resignation will almost certainly lead to an early election this fall, which would plunge Italy into months of upheaval,” writes Politico journalist Hannah Roberts. The FT reported that the yield on Italy’s 10-year government bond jumped 0.14 percentage points to 3.52%, as its price dropped sharply on Thursday.

Draghi has also been at the forefront of EU leaders who have been taking a tough stance on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, whereas Berlusconi, Salvini and particularly Five Star’s Giuseppe Conte have in the past been more sympathetic to Russia and its president Vladimir Putin.