At the age of 39, Matteo Renzi will become the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the Italian Republic as well as the third Prime Minister in a row, after Mario Monti and Enrico Lettawho, to get the position without winning an election.
On Wednesday Matteo Renzi asked Enrico Letta to present his resignation as the Italian Prime Minister, but Letta summoned a press conference announcing a new government plan, also launching a public challenge to Renzi. Twenty-four hours later, Renzi called for a vote of confidence on direct television.
Letta has been "kicked out" of his party, the Democratic Party (PD), who voted a no-confidence vote. Instead, the PD voted in favor of a document in which the secretary of the party, Matteo Renzi, asked Letta to step down. The document thanked Enrico Letta for the work that he had done in his 10 months as Prime Minister, but asked for a "new case with a new executive" and therefore substituting Letta with the challenger, Matteo Renzi. The document was approved with 136 votes in favor, 16 against, and two abstentions, while Letta’s supporters left the room, choosing not to take part in the voting procedure However, the parliamentary majority will most likely not change, which does not exclude future complications.
The low-key moderate Letta was appointed to lead the cross-party coalition patched together after the deadlocked elections of last year. When his arch-opponent Matteo Renzi was elected party leader in December 2013, things started becoming particularly tense within the party. That, coupled with the economic strain on the Italian economy and powerful lobbies calling for faster action on reforms, took a definite toll on Letta's popularity. Renzi, who has been caught in a power struggle with Letta for weeks, is currently the Mayor of Florence. Renzi marked his entrance into national politics under the compromise of getting rid of old and dirty customs of Italian politics, wishing to steer far from the back-stabbing pacts made with irreconcilable enemies.
The government will meet again for the last time at 11:30 on Friday morning, at which point Letta will be going to Napolitano to hand in his resignation. If things go as expected, Renzi will replace Letta in a time where Italy finds itself in an extremely fragile state. One thing is for sure, Renzi will have to show tremendous goodwill and energy to pull the eurozone's third-largest economy back upright.
a global affairs media network
Photo Friday: Italian PM to Resign
February 14, 2014
At the age of 39, Matteo Renzi will become the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the Italian Republic as well as the third Prime Minister in a row, after Mario Monti and Enrico Lettawho, to get the position without winning an election.
On Wednesday Matteo Renzi asked Enrico Letta to present his resignation as the Italian Prime Minister, but Letta summoned a press conference announcing a new government plan, also launching a public challenge to Renzi. Twenty-four hours later, Renzi called for a vote of confidence on direct television.
Letta has been "kicked out" of his party, the Democratic Party (PD), who voted a no-confidence vote. Instead, the PD voted in favor of a document in which the secretary of the party, Matteo Renzi, asked Letta to step down. The document thanked Enrico Letta for the work that he had done in his 10 months as Prime Minister, but asked for a "new case with a new executive" and therefore substituting Letta with the challenger, Matteo Renzi. The document was approved with 136 votes in favor, 16 against, and two abstentions, while Letta’s supporters left the room, choosing not to take part in the voting procedure However, the parliamentary majority will most likely not change, which does not exclude future complications.
The low-key moderate Letta was appointed to lead the cross-party coalition patched together after the deadlocked elections of last year. When his arch-opponent Matteo Renzi was elected party leader in December 2013, things started becoming particularly tense within the party. That, coupled with the economic strain on the Italian economy and powerful lobbies calling for faster action on reforms, took a definite toll on Letta's popularity. Renzi, who has been caught in a power struggle with Letta for weeks, is currently the Mayor of Florence. Renzi marked his entrance into national politics under the compromise of getting rid of old and dirty customs of Italian politics, wishing to steer far from the back-stabbing pacts made with irreconcilable enemies.
The government will meet again for the last time at 11:30 on Friday morning, at which point Letta will be going to Napolitano to hand in his resignation. If things go as expected, Renzi will replace Letta in a time where Italy finds itself in an extremely fragile state. One thing is for sure, Renzi will have to show tremendous goodwill and energy to pull the eurozone's third-largest economy back upright.
