Italy's Di Maio quits as 5-Star leader in blow to government

FILE PHOTO: Italian Foreign Minister and 5-Star party leader Luigi Di Maio arrives at a European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium, January 10, 2020. REUTERS/Johanna Geron

ROME (Reuters) - Luigi Di Maio stepped down on Wednesday as leader of Italy's co-governing 5-Star movement, as it seeks to stem a wave of defections that threatens the government's parliamentary majority.

While his decision is not expected to bring down the government, it underscores deep divisions within 5-Star and injects further uncertainty into already fractious relations with its coalition partner, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).