Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi submitted his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella amid a government crisis on Thursday, only to have Mattarella refuse to accept it. Draghi now faces a confidence vote in parliament, which will determine whether his multi-party coalition can still command a majority since the Five Star Movement (M5S), a key coalition member, refused to vote with the government, MIA informs.

Tensions between Draghi and M5S have been simmering for weeks, but escalated when the party indicated its lawmakers would not participate in a Senate vote to approve a €26-billion package of state aid for firms and households impacted by the war in Ukraine. M5S has been highly critical of the government on topics including the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, which it opposes, and the size and distribution of state aid in Italy.

Until recently, M5S was the largest party in the Italian parliament, but that ended when Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio left the party last month to form a new grouping, taking numerous M5S deputies with him. Di Maio, who was once the leader of the populist group, has pledged his support for Draghi and urged all political parties to show a sign of maturity by coming out in favour of the embattled prime minister.

Should the government fall, Di Maio said, “it would not be the parties that would have to pay for it, but citizens, families, companies,” adding that the effects of the Ukraine war and the energy crisis could be kept in check only with Draghi at the helm.

Mattarella’s refusal to accept Draghi’s resignation leaves Draghi casting about to form a new coalition, most likely without the involvement of M5S. Even without M5S, Draghi’s government is still likely to have a majority in parliament, with the the support of the Social Democrats, various centrist parties and the far-right Lega.

According to government sources, next Wednesday has been set as the date for the parliamentary debate.

“Now we have five days to work for parliament to express confidence in the Draghi government and for Italy to get out of this dramatic spiral,” tweeted Enrico Letta, leader of the Partito Democratico. Italy’s right-wing parties, sensing an opportunity, have called for fresh elections – above all the far-right Fratelli d’Italia, which is currently enjoying the strongest support in the polls.

“With the resignation of Draghi, this legislative period is over for the Fratelli d’Italia,” said party leader Giorgia Meloni. The far-right Lega said: “It is unthinkable that Italy should now freeze for weeks at a dramatic moment like this. No one must be afraid to let the Italians have their say.” Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi indicated before the confidence vote that he and his Forza Italia party also favoured an early return to the ballot box.

Reacting to comments by former Russian president Dmitri Medvedev, who wrote on Telegram that he was looking forward to more Western governments collapsing, Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said that his “heart bleeds” when he sees Medvedev cheering “because one of the strongest democracies in the world was weakened.”

The parties on both sides of the political spectrum were largely unanimous on one point, however: that the M5S has wilfully plunged the country into political crisis. The future of the populist party – who were the clear winners of the 2018 elections – is now anything but certain.