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Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta on Monday accepted the resignation of scandal-hit Agriculture Minister Nunzia De Girolamo, making way for possible replacements in his fragile left-right government.
Letta is a leading member of the center-left Democratic Party (PD), which is the biggest group in the ruling coalition.
The resignation fueled speculations of a government reshuffle in favor of the new PD leader Matteo Renzi, who has threatened to pull back his support if the government fails to introduce the much needed reforms.
"There could be a government reshuffle, but only meaning the replacement of some ministers in the coalition. It would only bring small changes," said Massimo Cacciari, a political analyst and former mayor of Venice.
Some analysts agreed that the stepping down of De Girolamo was a further "sign of complications" within the alliance.
De Girolamo, a member of the New Center Right (NCD) party of moderates who split from the group of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said she was "offended" by a government that did not defend her integrity.
Many of her entourage said they were surprised by the sudden resignations of the 38-year-old minister, which came on Sunday evening with a statement published on her website.
De Girolamo was accused to have interfered with the management decisions of her home town's health authority in 2012 after some transcripts of recordings made in secret of her conversations emerged.
She was not implicated in the probe and defended her position in parliament, but widespread calls for her to resign produced the decision.
Renzi, who has reached a compromise agreement with Berlusconi's center-right opposition party on a new election law, said on Monday that the coalition would collapse if the bill failed to pass.
The PD head assured however he was "optimistic" that the proposal, which aims to replace the current voting law deemed unconstitutional, would win a vote in the parliament.
"The government can last as long as 2018 if it makes the reforms," Renzi said.
The PD leftwing minority had been critical of the bill and especially of Renzi's talks with Berlusconi, which was seen as a form of political rehabilitation for the media tycoon.
Berlusconi and his group were part of the Letta government before becoming opposition as the 77-year-old was rejected from parliament last year for effect of a definitive tax fraud conviction.
"I prefer to pass reforms with Berlusconi than govern with him," Renzi hit back on Monday.
Beside the new election system, Renzi has raised pressure on the government led by his PD colleague to adopt a "coalition agenda" of urgent reforms, including institutional measures to revive the economy and a labor program to fight record high unemployment levels.
