This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/13/italian-pm-enrico-letta-to-resign

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Italian PM Enrico Letta to resign Italian PM Enrico Letta to resign
(about 3 hours later)
Italy's prime minister, Enrico Letta, will resign on Friday after his centre-left party voted heavily in favour of backing his rival's call for a new government, a "new phase" and a "radical programme" of reform. Italy's prime minister, Enrico Letta, will step down on Friday after the leadership of his centre-left party deserted him for Matteo Renzi – a telegenic and smooth-talking rival who cites Tony Blair as a role model and now looks likely to become the country's youngest premier in modern history.
Minutes after the Democratic party's (PD) national committee backed the 39-year-old Florence mayor Matteo Renzi's proposal by 136 votes to 16, with two abstentions, Palazzo Chigi - the official residence of the prime minister - said Letta would be going to the Quirinale on Friday to tender his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano. At the conclusion of a power struggle between the two Democratic party (PD) heavyweights, Letta issued a statement on Thursday night saying he would tender his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano on Friday at the Quirinale palace.
Letta's government, which came into being after an unprecedented period of uncertainty following inconclusive elections in February, had been in power for nine-and-a-half months. Renzi, who became leader of the PD in December, is now almost certain to take over as prime minister. Minutes before, the PD's national committee had voted by 136 votes to 16, with two abstentions, to back a motion put forward by Renzi, the party leader and mayor of Florence, calling for a new government capable of opening "a new phase" of reform and pulling the eurozone's third-largest economy "out of the quagmire".
In a speech earlier, Renzi had paid tribute to Letta's government, saying the meeting was not intended to put it "on trial". But, without directly proposing himself as the next premier, he said the eurozone's third-largest economy urgently needed "a new phase" and "radical programme" to push through reforms. While it did not directly refer to Renzi, there was no doubt who the party would be backing as Letta's successor. Aged just 39, Renzi is now expected to be asked by 88-year-old Napolitano to form a new government without Italy returning to the polls for the second time in as many years.
The motion made clear "the necessity and urgency of opening a new phase with a new executive". In doing so, the man nicknamed Il Rottamatore – "the scrapper" – who has built up a substantial fan base by rejecting so-called "old politics" and its backroom deals, would become Italy's third prime minister in less than three years to take power without having been voted in.
The two Tuscan politicians had been engaged in an intense power struggle for days. As much as his many supporters wanted to see him eventually take power, a staffetta – or relay-race – with Letta was not the way in which they expected him to do it.
Letta, who on Wednesday night unveiled a new action plan for 2014 and resisted calls to resign, stayed away from the PD meeting, explaining he would wait for its outcome at Palazzo Chigi. President Napolitano had said he expected the party to make it clear where it stands. In a speech to the PD leadership, Renzi acknowledged that there were problems inherent in the strategy, describing it as "a difficult choice" full of risk. But, he said, an election now, under the country's existing electoral laws – which helped create deadlock following last year's vote – would be pointless. And the risk of forming a new administration would be worthwhile if it led to the formation of a government that could last until 2018 and drive through the constitutional, electoral and bureaucratic reforms the country needed, he argued.
Speaking to the party leadership, Renzi had said Italy was "at a crossroads" and faced either holding fresh elections or a new government without a return to the polls. "This is not a matter of a relay or a non-relay. A relay is when you go in the same direction and at the same speed, not when you try to change the speed," he said. Many had accused him of excessive ambition, he noted, but added: "Today we have to have a huge ambition, which is to think that Italy cannot exist for the coming months and coming years in a situation of uncertainty, instability, quagmire, hesitation."
While the first option might appear tempting, he said, a vote under the existing rules risked doing nothing to fix the country's problems. Struggling to emerge from its worst post-war recession, Italy currently has near-record levels of unemployment, with more than 41% of young people out of work, and a public debt of more than €2 trillion (£1.6tn). Critics say Letta's government, which started life as an unwieldy left-right coalition with Silvio Berlusconi's PdL party and faced almost daily tensions and divisions, has been largely unable to present credible solutions.
The other option - which has been dubbed la staffetta, or relay – was a "difficult choice" full of risk, but would be worthwhile were a new government to last until 2018 and carry out the necessary reforms, he said. On Wednesday evening, while – as one Italian newspaper put it – Letta was feeling the guillotine rise above him, the mild-mannered former MEP kicked back against his critics and Renzi, presenting a new agenda for reform in 2014 and defending his government's economic record, saying the country was starting to see signs of recovery.
"We have to offer a way out of the quagmire with a radical programme and profound change," he said. But it was not enough to convince his opponents, or at least most of those in the PD who had until now backed him. Letta, whose high point in government arguably came in October, when he emerged victorious from a showdown with Berlusconi that prompted the billionaire's exit from the coalition, stayed away from the PD meeting.
"Today we have to have a huge ambition, which is to think that Italy cannot exist for the coming months and coming years in a situation of uncertainty, instability, of quagmire," he added. "Following the decisions taken today in the national committee of the Democratic party, I have informed the president, Giorgio Napolitano, of my desire to go to the Quirinale tomorrow to tender my resignation as prime minister," he said in his statement on Thursday night.
Almost immediately, Renzi was given a reminder of the difficulties that lie ahead in the creation of any future government when Angelino Alfano, leader of the New Centre Right (NCD) party in coalition with Letta, told journalists that if Renzi's executive did not offer the right "political conditions" for them, "we will say no to the birth of a new government".
"We are not in love with the idea of a legislature lasting until 2018," he added, saying the government would either have to do "great things" or call an election.
The comments appeared to underline warnings from those who see no reason why Renzi should find the same deeply divided parliament any fairer going for reform than Letta did.
"It remains to be seen whether the move will make a real difference – and there are risks involved," said Vincenzo Scarpetta of the Open Europe thinktank. "Renzi is likely to face the same political logjam which ultimately cost Letta his job, and will be exposed to fierce criticism, especially from the Five Star Movement, for being the third prime minister in a row to take power without winning an election."
Letta was parachuted into power last April after Pier Luigi Bersani, the then PD leader, failed to entice Beppe Grillo's anti-establishment movement into a coalition. Letta then formed a coalition with Berlusconi – a decision which cost him the support of many in his party.