Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte delivers his annual address at Villa Madama in Rome, Italy, on Dec 30, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

ROME - Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte worked the phones on Friday, trying to secure enough votes in parliament to allow him to stay in power after a junior ally quit the cabinet this week.

Conte resisted calls to resign on Thursday and instead signalled he wanted to take his fight for survival to parliament, with his main coalition partners backing plans to try to find so-called “responsible” lawmakers from among opposition ranks to prop up the administration.

PM Giuseppe Conte is due to address the lower house on Monday and the upper house Senate on Tuesday about the political chaos, which was triggered by former premier Matteo Renzi after he pull the Italia Viva party from the cabinet

Conte is due to address the lower house on Monday and the upper house Senate on Tuesday about the political chaos, which was triggered by former premier Matteo Renzi in a row over the coalition’s handling of the coronavirus and economic crises.

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Conte and his team were looking for backing among the list of 21 non-aligned senators and hoping that some of Renzi’s own 18-strong Senate team might defect and remain within the ruling coalition, which has been in office just 17 months.

“We have signs of willingness and interest from many parliamentarians. Let’s see if this allows the government to keep its majority,” Andrea Orlando, the deputy head of the co-ruling Democratic Party (PD), told Sky Italia TV.

However, he acknowledged that even if they did manage to scrape together enough support in the 321-seat Senate, it would not resolve all their problems.

“It is clear that a crisis can be avoided by having just one more vote, but one can’t govern with just one additional vote,” Orlando said, pointing to prolonged political instability.

Renzi, who has come under attack on social media for pulling the Italia Viva party from the cabinet, said he did not believe Conte would be able to win Tuesday’s vote.

Conte and his team were looking for backing among the list of 21 non-aligned senators and hoping that some of Renzi’s own 18-strong Senate team might defect and remain within the ruling coalition, which has been in office just 17 months

While Conte was searching for stray senators, the opposition centre-right block was also seeking to win over waiverers to try to force the government’s resignation, potentially opening the way for early elections, two years ahead of schedule.

Renzi has left open the door to returning to the fold so long as a new policy pact could be worked out, but his one-time partners said they wanted nothing more to do with him.

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“We cannot return to the negotiating table with him,” said Vito Crimi, head of the co-ruling 5-Star Movement.

Opinion polls say the opposition, led by League leader Matteo Salvini, would triumph in a national vote.

Salvini called on Thursday for a vote and shrugged off concerns about campaigning during the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 80,000 people in Italy and plunged the country into its worst recession since World War II.

The political uncertainty has pushed up borrowing costs, with yields on Italy’s sovereign bonds (BTPs) set to post their biggest weekly rise in 12 weeks.

For Conte to stay in office, he would need to find around 25 lawmakers in the 630-seat lower house and up to 18 in the 315-seat Senate

Analysts said markets would become much more volatile if snap elections looked likely, amid investor concern over the economic policies of any government headed by the eurosceptic, populist League.

One of Renzi’s main complaints about Conte is the way he has handled plans to spend more than 200 billion euros (US$243 billion) of promised European Union funds, accusing him of trying to bypass parliament in the decision-making process.

Renzi also said Conte must accept up to 36 billion euros offered for the health system by a separate euro zone bailout fund. No country has tapped this mechanism amid fears the cash will come with unwelcome conditions.

For Conte to stay in office, he would need to find around 25 lawmakers in the 630-seat lower house and up to 18 in the 315-seat Senate. However, such a majority would be fragile, making prolonged political stability hard to achieve.

READ MORE: 5-Star meltdown leaves Italy in chaos with leader set to quit

If Conte cannot find a way to stay in office, President Sergio Mattarella might seek to put together a broad-based government of national unity to overcome the impasse, which has been met with consternation by many ordinary Italians.

“We are worried because politics never work in Italy. I don’t know why ... it just takes some common sense especially at a time like this,” said Benito Gaetano, a resident of the southern city of Lamezia Terme.