Italy's government looked on the verge of collapse today after an ally of Prime Minister Romano Prodi deserted the centre-left coalition.
The chances for Mr Prodi's survival appear slim as he is likely to lose any confidence vote in the upper house where he now has fewer seats than the opposition.
The latest crisis followed the resignation last week of justice minister Clemente Mastella and his decision yesterday to withdraw the support of his small Catholic Udeur party from the coalition. He said he favoured snap elections.
Mr Mastella quit the cabinet after he and his wife came under investigation in a corruption investigation. He initially said his party would vote with Mr Prodi, a position he then unexpectedly reversed.
"We'll need to see if Prodi will throw in the towel - something that's anything but certain," said leading daily Corriere della Sera."(But) the hypothesis that Prodi can emerge intact from such a violent blow seems unbelievable."
Mr Prodi's government has wobbled many times since he narrowly beat his centre-right rival, the media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, at elections in April 2006.