Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will resign Tuesday in a tactical move aimed at maximizing his chances of leading a new government.

Conte will hold a cabinet meeting at 9 a.m. Before officially handing over his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella, CET announced his office in a statement.

Conte survived votes of confidence in both houses of parliament last week after former prime minister Matteo Renzi triggered a political crisis by withdrawing his small Italia Viva party from the ruling coalition. However, votes of confidence left Conte with a small majority and since then he has failed to build support.

With a weak majority, Conte was expected to be defeated in a Senate vote on a court report on Wednesday.

According to media reports, Conte has been under pressure from the two main coalition parties, the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Democratic Party (PD), to resign preemptively before Wednesday's vote to end have a better chance of receiving a mandate from Mattarella. to form a new government backed by a broader coalition.

Such a move could hinge on Italia Viva returning to the fold. Conte, as well as politicians from the PD and M5S, insisted last week that they would not work with Renzi again.

"It is currently unclear if Conte can be successful in such an endeavor," Wolfango Piccoli, co-chairman of London-based research company Teneo Holdings, wrote in a note. “The PD and the M5S are deeply divided internally on whether to negotiate with Renzi. Both parties are also working to reduce the power that Conte has accumulated thanks to the pandemic during the last 11 months.