Italy's Draghi calls for confidence vote to decide fate of govt

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi addresses the Senate ahead of a confidence vote for the government after he tendered his resignation last week in the wake of a mutiny by a coalition partner, in Rome, Italy July 20, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi asked on Wednesday for the upper house Senate to hold a confidence vote that will effectively decide if his coalition government stays in office.

The proposed motion says simply that the house approves of a speech made by Draghi earlier in the day, when he demanded unity from his coalition partners if they wanted the 18-month-old government to remain in power.