There will be early elections in Italy.
Italy's President Sergio Mattarella has dissolved parliament, which automatically makes them necessary.
The head of state announced this in a short television speech.
The previous Prime Minister Mario Draghi had announced his resignation in the morning in view of a deep crisis in the governing coalition.
The trigger for Draghi's step was the refusal of three coalition parties to take part in a vote of confidence.
In the middle of the holiday season, people in Italy will probably face restless election campaign weeks.
The voting must be completed within 70 days.
A possible election date is a Sunday in mid to late September or early October.
Draghi's government will remain in office until there is a new prime minister.
When that will be is unclear.
The coalition negotiations could drag on depending on the outcome of the election.
According to experts, a new government may not be in power until early November.
A so-called centre-right coalition, which includes the conservative Forza Italia led by ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as well as the two right-wing parties Lega and Fratelli d'Italia (FDI), is given the best chances in new elections.
According to the latest survey by the SWG institute, the neo-fascist FDI, chaired by ex-journalist Giorgia Meloni, received 24 percent of the vote.
Behind them are the Democratic Party (PD) with 22 percent and the Lega of populist Matteo Salvini with 14 percent.
"We are ready," Meloni wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
According to the polls, she has a good chance of becoming Italy's first female prime minister.
During his tenure, Berlusconi made Meloni the country's youngest minister at the age of 31.
She later fell out with her mentor and founded the Fratelli d'Italia with allies.
The country's creditworthiness has plummeted as a result of the recent crisis
FDI politicians have often stirred up anti-EU sentiment in the past.
The party advocates a revision of the EU treaties and a re-establishment of the EU as a federation of sovereign states.
With her clear support of Ukraine against the Russian war of aggression, Meloni distanced herself from other European right-wing parties.
The 74-year-old Draghi headed a government for a year and a half that was supported by parties from the left to the right in parliament.
He was supposed to lead Italy out of the corona crisis, which had hit the country particularly hard, also with the help of the European Corona Aid Fund.
The majority of Italians supported the former head of the European Central Bank and, according to polls, would have liked him to remain in office until the regular end of the legislative period.
But Draghi's government plunged into a crisis last week when the governing Five Star Movement (M5S) boycotted a vote of confidence in Draghi in the Senate.
On Wednesday, Draghi tried one last time before the Senate to gain confidence in his government.
He had asked the parliamentarians for a "new, honest and concrete trust pact" and made his stay in office dependent on the associated vote.
A few hours later, however, the M5S as well as Forza Italia and the Lega refused to take part in a renewed vote of confidence in the Senate - and thus initiated the end of the government.
Draghi then announced his resignation on Thursday.
The most recent government crisis has also caused the country's creditworthiness to plummet.
The gap between Italy and Germany in interest rates on government bonds was as high on Thursday as it was last in spring 2020, i.e. during the corona pandemic.
Italy currently has a debt burden of 2700 billion euros, which corresponds to around 150 percent of economic output.
asc/dpa/AFP