ROME — Premier Enrico Letta drove himself to the Italian president's palace to resign Friday after he was sacked by his own party in a back-room mutiny meant to catapult the dynamic young mayor of Florence to the helm of the Italian government.
In a tweet Friday, Letta said he was resigning and thanked "all those who have helped me."
It was a contrite goodbye after 10 months of leadership of a fragile, bipartisan government formed after inconclusive February 2013 elections yielded no clear winner with a big enough majority to govern.
President Giorgio Napolitano is widely expected to accept Letta's resignation and, after a weekend of consultations with political leaders, ask the head of Letta's Democratic Party, Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi, to try to form a government.
Al #Quirinale a rassegnare le dimissioni al Capo dello Stato.Grazie a tutti quelli che mi hanno aiutato."Ogni giorno come se fosse l'ultimo"
— Enrico Letta (@EnricoLetta) February 14, 2014