2008 Italian government crisis

2008 Italian government crisis
Prodi at the 2007 G8 summit
Date16 January 2008 – 5 February 2008
LocationItaly
TypeParliamentary crisis
CauseWithdrawal of UDEUR's support to Romano Prodi's government
Outcome

On 24 January 2008, the Italian Senate voted down a motion of confidence in Italian prime minister Romano Prodi, causing the collapse of the second Prodi government. Prodi's resignation led the Italian president Giorgio Napolitano to ask the president of the Senate, Franco Marini, to attempt to form a caretaker government. After Marini acknowledged an interim government could not be formed due to the lack of a clear majority in the Italian Parliament willing to support it, a snap election was scheduled for 13–14 April 2008.