The future of the Italian government led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi looks uncertain after three main coalition parties refused to take part in a confidence vote.
Draghi won a confidence motion in the upper house Senate, but without the support of the coalition parties, effectively torpedoing his administration.
The motion asked the house to approve a speech made by Draghi earlier in the day.
The vote was approved by 95 to 38 with many dozens of senators absenting themselves.
Italy’s political drama began when the 74-year-old ex-head of the European Central Bank handed his resignation to the president, because the populist Five Star movement had pulled out of a confidence vote.
After he tendered his resignation last Thursday, several protests took place calling for Mr Draghi to stay in office and polls showed most Italians agree. Some 2,000 mayors, as well as 250 business leaders backed him.
The EU’s third-biggest economy now looks set for early elections.
Opinion polls suggest Italy’s next prime minister would come from the far right.
Giorgia Meloni, leader of Brothers of Italy, has already called for an autumn election, highlighting a recent poll that gave her party 23.8% of the vote.
