Editing Romano Prodi (section)

===Resignation===
Prodi's government fell in 1998 when the [[Communist Refoundation Party]] withdrew its external support. This led to the formation of a [[D'Alema I Cabinet|new government]] led by [[Massimo D'Alema]] as prime minister. There are those who claim that D'Alema, along with People's Party leader [[Franco Marini]], deliberately engineered the collapse of the Prodi government to become prime minister himself.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2001/maggio/29/Marini_cosi_Alema_facemmo_cadere_co_0_0105295076.shtml|title=Così io e D'Alema facemmo cadere Prodi|date=May 2001}}</ref> As the result of a vote of no confidence in Prodi's government, D'Alema's nomination was passed by a single vote. This was the first occasion in the history of the Italian Republic on which a vote of no confidence had ever been called; the Republic's many previous governments had been brought down by a majority "no" vote on some crucially important piece of legislation (such as the budget).