Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation hours after learning he had suffered a crushing defeat in a referendum on constitutional reform.
Italian voters rejected a constitutional reform plan, according to exit polls which showed that the ‘No’ campaign has prevailed following Sunday’s referendum.
“My experience of government finishes here,” Renzi told a press conference, acknowledging that the No campaign had won an “extraordinarily clear” victory in a vote on which he had staked his future.
Interior Ministry projections suggested the No camp, led by the populist Five Star Movement, had been backed by 59.5 percent of those who voted.
Nearly 70 percent of Italians entitled to vote on Sunday cast their ballots, an exceptionally high turnout that reflected the high stakes and the intensity of the various issues involved.
Renzi said he would be visiting President Sergio Mattarella on Monday to hand in his resignation following a final meeting of his cabinet.
About 51 million Italians were eligible to vote on Renzi’s plan to drastically reduce the role of the upper house Senate and reduce powers of provincial governments.
The reform would have reduced the current size of the Senate from 315 senators to 100, and rather than being directly elected, they will be selected by regional assemblies.
The reform also sought to dissolve Italy’s 110 provinces, Italy’s second-level administrative divisions – considered expensive and redundant – while municipalities, metropolitan cities and regions would remain.
The populist Five Star Movement, the biggest political rival to Renzi’s Democratic party, backed the ‘No’ campaign in the referendum. – Al Jazeera.
