Italians voted yesterday overwhelmingly to elect Matteo Renzi as the new head of the ruling Democratic Party, returning him to frontline politics as the party faces a growing challenge from populist politicians.

"It is a clear, ample victory that went beyond our expectations," said agriculture minister Maurizio Martina, who has been campaigning for Mr Renzi. "This is the opening of a new phase."

Voters queued at tents, bars and local party headquarters across the country to choose between Andrea Orlando, the justice minister, Michele Emiliano, governor of the southern Puglia region, and Mr Renzi, the former prime minister.

Turnout was estimated at between 1.9 to 2 million voters, an "extraordinary" result, said Mr Renzi, 42, who resigned in December after Italians overwhelmingly rejected a national referendum to reform Italy’s constitution.

In remarks on the terrace of the party headquarters, Mr Renzi said the primary victory - estimated to be well over 60 percent - marked the "turning of a new page" for the party, and possibly the future of Europe.</s>Former premier Matteo Renzi has regained the Democratic Party leadership, handily winning a Sunday primary that he hopes will bolster the centre-left’s ability to counter growing support for populist politicians in Italy ahead of national elections.

“Forward, together,” Mr Renzi tweeted, invigorated by his comeback after a stinging defeat in a December reforms referendum aimed in part at streamlining the legislative process led him to resign as head of Italy’s government and as leader of his squabbling party.

“The alternative to populism isn’t the elite,” Mr Renzi told supports late on Sunday after unofficial results indicated he got more than 70% of votes cast nationwide. “It’s people who aren’t afraid of democracy.”

Some politicians predicted that the primary win would embolden Mr Renzi to manoeuvre seeking to bring national elections ahead of their spring 2018 due date as part of his effort to rein in increasing popularity for the populist, anti-euro 5-Star Movement.

But a top Mr Renzi ally sought to counter that idea.

“The government’s horizon is 2018. Starting tomorrow, we’ll work with Premier (Paolo) Gentiloni. Gentiloni’s government is our government,” said agriculture minister Maurizio Martina.

Mr Renzi’s party is still the main force in Italy’s centre-left coalition government, but opinion polls indicate it is no longer the country’ most popular. Overtaking the Democrats in recent soundings was the 5-Star Movement, whose leader, comic Beppe Grillo, wants a crackdown on migrants, rails against European Union-mandated austerity and opposes Italy belonging to the euro single currency group.

Throughout the day, some two million voters lined up at makeshift gazebos in piazzas and street corners, at ice cream parlours, cafes or local party headquarters around the country to cast ballots for a new head of the splintering Democratic Party, whose rank-and-file range from former Communists to former Christian Democrats.

Primary voting was open to anyone 16 years of age of older – the oldest voter was reported to be 105. Holding Democratic Party membership was not a requirement.

Trailing far behind in the votes were Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Puglia region Governor Michele Emiliano.

In addition to countering the challenge of 5-Star’s popularity, to regain Italy’s premiership, Mr Renzi will have to contend with malcontents and defectors in his own party. A group of mostly former Communists split from the Democrats and formed a small, new party in resentment over both Mr Renzi’s centrist leanings and his authoritarian style.

Mr Renzi’s reputation in politics is one of ruthlessness. In early 2014, he promised then-premier and fellow Democrat Enrico Letta that he would not undermine the government, only to shortly afterwards engineer Mr Letta’s downfall. Mr Renzi then became premier.

Italian president Sergio Mattarella recently insisted that electoral laws must be overhauled before new elections. Currently, there is one set of electoral rules for the lower Chamber of Deputies and a completely different one for the Senate, a consequence of the failed reform referendum.</s>Italy's Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi speaks during a news conference in Brussels, Belgium April 28, 2017. Reuters/Eric Vidal Rome: Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi was Sunday poised to win the leadership of Italy's ruling Democratic Party in a primary election, propelling him back to the forefront of the national political scene.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Peninsula.</s>Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was Sunday poised to win the leadership of Italy’s ruling Democratic Party (PD) in a primary election, propelling him back to the forefront of the national political scene.

Renzi, 42, resigned as prime minister in December after Italians overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional referendum.

A centerpiece of his political platform, the reform had aimed to streamline Italy’s parliamentary system.

In the aftermath of the December vote defeat and facing a rebellion from the left wing of his center-left party, Renzi in February stepped down as party leader with the aim of regaining legitimacy in a future vote.

On Sunday he was up against two candidates considered further to the left: Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Michele Emiliano, who heads the southern Puglia region.

An internal vote conducted by the party earlier in April suggested a clear Renzi victory after he scored 66.7 percent, with 25.3 percent for Orlando and 8 percent for Emiliano.

When he first took over the leadership in December 2013, Renzi won the backing of close on 68 percent of 2.8 million voters.

Similar figures would underpin the winner’s legitimacy — but Emiliano warned the election will be a flop if less people vote this time, while Orlando said that less than 2 million cast ballots will signal a failure.

Renzi set the bar much lower — at 1 million.

Voting booths, mainly stands on the streets, opened at 8 a.m. and were to close at 8 p.m.

The vote was open to all Italians over 16 years old, EU citizens residing in Italy and non-EU foreigners with valid residency permits — on condition of paying a donation of at least €2.

Lorenzo De Sio, a professor of political sociology at the Luiss University in Rome said the turnout will be crucial in determining Renzi’s legitimacy.

“Rather than a competition, we’re looking at a process of legitimization, a sort of crowning of Renzi as leader of the PD. We can expect a huge Renzi victory but with weak voter turnout. People on the left do not seem to be mobilized,” he says.

“If participation rates are around a million people or less, Renzi’s legitimization won’t be strong, if it is between 1.5 and 2 million, he will wind up in a stronger position,” he adds.

The winner of the vote will lead the party during legislative elections slated for spring 2018 unless parliamentarians come to an agreement on electoral reform before then and call for early elections.</s>Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi looks set to emerge victorious in Sunday’s Democratic Party election, representing a remarkable comeback for the 42-year-old politician.

Polling stations in Italy closed at 4 p.m. Eastern time, with Renzi expected to win the primary election decisively against Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Michele Emiliano, who heads Italy’s Apulia region, according to reports from The Telegraph.

A victory for Renzi comes less than five months after he was compelled to resign in the wake of a failed gambit to tamp down the rise of the euroskeptic 5 Star Movement that has urged the country’s citizens to hold a vote to exit from the European Union.

Renzi’s Democratic Party is Italy’s largest establishment party, but as the Wall Street Journal has reported, the central-left, pro-Europe party has faced a stiff challenge from the 5 Star Movement. Italy is wrestling with a fragile banking system that has threatened to bring the EU’s third largest economy by gross domestic product to its knees.

The election comes ahead of the arrival of dozens of foreign delegations to Sicily for a G-7 convention and ahead of a planned tête-à-tête between Renzi and former President Barack Obama on May 8.

Italy’s vote follows a parade of closely watched elections in Europe, amid the rise of populism, highlighted by the U.K.’s referendum last June to abandon its EU membership.

Last Sunday, centrist Emmanuel Macron won a first-round election in France and will face off against far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen in a May 7 presidential election runoff that could decide the fate of the EU.

Read: 4 things investors need to know about France’s presidential runoff

The crucial elections have put Wall Street on edge because they threaten to disrupt the status quo in Europe, upending the shared currency the euro EURUSD, +0.0000% and roiling European equity benchmarks SXXP, -0.18% Italy’s FTSE FTSE, -0.49% rose 0.1% to 20,609.16 on Friday, as early polls put Renzi’s victory as very likely. Italian government bonds TMBMKIT-10Y, +0.00% were yielding 2.28% as of the market’s close late Friday in New York.

Meanwhile, Europe’s pan-European benchmark, Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.2% to close at 387.09.

Surprising outcomes in European elections can ripple into U.S. markets, knocking around prices of stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.19% and S&P 500 index SPX, -0.19% which have been hanging around lofty levels, since the rise of President Donald Trump’s election back in November.

Also read: How Trump’s stock market ranks during his first 100 days in office</s>Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi has bounced back to the forefront of national politics with a resounding primary election win to regain leadership of the ruling Democratic Party (PD).

Renzi won 70.01 percent of votes in a internal party ballot of 1.85 million people, according to final tallies Monday.

This represented an emphatic victory for the 42-year-old, although turnout was well down on the 2.8 million who voted in his successful campaign of 2013 and also below the three million of previous primary contests.

Renzi’s rivals — Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Michele Emiliano, governor of the southern region of Puglia, both from the party’s left wing, garnered 19.5 percent and 10.4 percent respectively.

“It is a huge responsibility. I thank from the bottom of my heart those men and women who believe in Italy,” tweeted Renzi after it became clear he had won handsomely.

Renzi resigned as prime minister in December after Italians overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional referendum aimed at streamlining the parliamentary system.

In February he quit the leadership of the centre-left PD and sought a new mandate in the teeth of internal opposition.

Armed with his new mandate, he will now go much strengthened into parliamentary elections due by early next year at the latest, insisting his win “is the beginning of a completely new story.”

Italian media predicted Renzi would push for an earlier election, in October, seeking to surf on what he hopes will be pro-EU wave both in France this weekend and then in Germany.

However, an early vote first requires MPs to agree on electoral reforms.

In office, Renzi managed to deliver significant labour market reforms and modest growth, while legally recognising gay relationships for the first time.

But the recovery was not strong enough to pay any real political dividends and he alienated many on his party’s far-left, who broke away in February to form the Progressive and Democratic Movement (DP).

In a solitary television debate with his rivals before the vote, Renzi vowed to “bring back energy, momentum and vigour to the country”, railing against “stagnation that seems to be blocking political and institutional life” since the referendum.

The debate highlighted key differences over national politics, including on a wealth tax which he opposes.

– In Macron’s footsteps –

 Renzi, who has often cited the “Yes we can” slogan of former US president Barack Obama, is also a supporter of French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, who quit the Socialist Party to found his own centrist movement “En Marche” (On the Move).

Macron on Monday tweeted congratulations to the Italian.

“Bravo to Matteo Renzi, likewise on the move. Let’s change Europe together with all progressives,” wrote the French presidential favourite.

“Thank you dear Emmanuel! We are with you. Vive la France, vive l’Europe (which we are going to change together),” Renzi replied in French.

Should the upcoming legislative election require the formation of a coalition, Orlando and Emiliano say they would seek to govern with left-wing defectors or other parties on the left.

Renzi, meanwhile, has not ruled out forming an alliance with centre-right leader and former premier Silvio Berlusconi.

This post was syndicated from The Guardian Nigeria. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Also, Like us on facebook</s>Former prime minister Matteo Renzi was poised to win the leadership of Italy’s ruling Democratic Party (PD) in a primary election Sunday, propelling him back to the forefront of the national political scene.

Renzi, 42, resigned as prime minister in December after Italians overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional referendum aimed at streamlining the parliamentary system.

Nearly 1.5 million people had voted three hours before the polls closed, organisers said. This was lower than earlier primary contests but not as much as some analysts had predicted, given what many called a lacklustre campaign.

A high turnout is expected to had a large mandate to Renzi. The roughly 10,000 polling stations — mainly stands in the streets, but also in cultural centres and bars — closed at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT), and final results are expected later in the evening.

Renzi himself had set the bar for success at one million voters, and an internal vote conducted by the PD this month suggested a clear Renzi victory after he scored 66.7 percent, with 25.3 percent for Orlando and eight percent for Emiliano.

“It’s a festival of democracy,” Renzi told reporters after casting his vote.

“I hope that others will do the same, it doesn’t hurt,” Renzi added, taking a swipe at the rival Five Star Movement, which is running close to the PD in opinion polls but which decided to hold its primary contest via an online vote.

His two rivals on Sunday are considered farther to the left: Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Michele Emiliano, who heads the southern Puglia region.

Emiliano said the election would be a flop if fewer people voted this time around, while Orlando said that fewer than two million cast ballots would signal a failure.

When he first took over the leadership in December 2013, Renzi won the backing of close on 68 percent of 2.8 million voters.

But in the aftermath of his referendum’s defeat and facing a rebellion from the left wing of his centre-left party, Renzi stepped down as party leader in February with the aim of regaining legitimacy in a future vote.

The vote was open to all Italians over 16 years old, EU citizens residing in Italy and non-EU foreigners with valid residency permits — on condition of paying a donation of at least two euros.

Lorenzo De Sio, a professor of political sociology at the Luiss University in Rome, said the turnout would be crucial in determining Renzi’s legitimacy.

“Rather than a competition, we’re looking at a process of legitimisation, a sort of crowning of Renzi as leader of the PD. We can expect a huge Renzi victory but with weak voter turnout. People on the left do not seem to be mobilised,” he said.

“If participation rates are around a million people or less, Renzi’s legitimisation won’t be strong; if it is between 1.5 and two million, he will wind up in a stronger position,” he said.

The winner of the vote will lead the party during legislative elections slated for spring 2018, unless parliamentarians come to an agreement on electoral reforms before then and call for early elections.

During the only televised debate between Renzi and his two competitors, the former prime minister said he would do “everything to bring back energy, momentum and vigour to the country”, and railed against “stagnation that seems to be blocking political and institutional life” since the referendum.

In addition to the contrasting styles, with Orlando and Emiliano generally more reserved than the exuberant Renzi, the debate laid bare key differences over national politics.

Renzi disagrees with his two challengers on a wealth tax, which he opposes.

If the spring election outcome requires the formation of a coalition following the legislative elections, Orlando and Emiliano have said they would seek to govern with left wing defectors or other parties on the left.

Renzi, meanwhile, has not ruled out forming an alliance with centre-right leader and former premier Silvio Berlusconi.

The post Italy’s Renzi likely to win Democratic Party election appeared first on Vanguard News.

This post was syndicated from Vanguard News. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Also, Like us on facebook</s>Matteo Renzi, staging a political comeback less than five months after resigning as Italy's prime minister, easily regained the leadership of the ruling Democratic Party (PD) on Sunday with an overwhelming victory in a primary election among party supporters.

ROME: Matteo Renzi, staging a political comeback less than five months after resigning as Italy's prime minister, easily regained the leadership of the ruling Democratic Party (PD) on Sunday with an overwhelming victory in a primary election among party supporters.

According to partial results, Renzi had about 72 percent of the vote, held in makeshift polling booths around the country. About 2 million party members voted in the primary. Justice Minister Andrea Orlando had 19 percent while Michele Emiliano, the governor of the southern Puglia region, had about 9 percent.

Both of his opponents, as well as Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, called to congratulate him, and Renzi gave a long victory speech at party headquarters.

"Forward together," Renzi said to applause.

Renzi, 42, resigned as prime minister in December after a crushing defeat in a referendum over constitutional reforms aimed at streamlining lawmaking. He was replaced by Gentiloni, his foreign minister, but he quickly began planning a comeback.

With a national vote due by May 2018, polls show the ruling PD has slipped behind the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which questions the country's euro membership. Renzi's ability to counter the 5-Star surge may be crucial to fending off an existential threat to the euro zone.

However, under Italy's proportional representation voting system, no party currently looks likely to win enough seats in parliament to govern alone.

Renzi, with his confrontational leadership style, has become a divisive figure, and there is no guarantee he would be named prime minister of a future coalition government even if the PD were to win the most votes during the election.

While Renzi remains the most popular politician among PD voters, the party and his own appeal look much weaker than during his heyday as prime minister, after he failed to convert his ambitious reform agenda into reality.

Renzi's current personal approval rating is about half of the 50 percent he posted three years ago, according to the Ixe polling institute.

Polls show 5-Star now has around 30 percent of the vote and a lead of between 3 and 8 percentage points over the PD after a dispute between Renzi's loyalists and left-wing traditionalists caused a party split in February.

"I voted for Renzi because he's got more drive and determination than the others, but I'm not convinced he'll get back into government," said computer engineer Luigi Mancini, a PD supporter in Rimini on the Adriatic coast.

"With the (proportional representation) voting system we've got, it seems unlikely that anyone will get a majority," he added.</s>Former prime minister Matteo Renzi is widely expected to regain leadership of Italy's Democratic Party (PD) in a vote set for Sunday.

Opinion polls show Renzi is on course to defeat his two rivals, Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Puglia governor Michele Emiliano, in the primary elections. Polls taken from April 12th-23rd all show Renzi with a strong lead, predicted to take between 57 and 72 percent of the votes.

Orlando is predicted to gain 16-29 percent of votes, with Emiliano on a projected 9-13 percent.

Most commentators in the Italian press saw Renzi as winning a TV debate between the three would-be leaders on Wednesday. In the debates, he said he would not rule out a coalition with Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, but would not reach a deal with the Progressive and Democratic Party, a group of former PD politicians who broke away from the party in February.

Renzi bowed out as prime minister in December, following a crushing defeat in a referendum on which he had staked his leadership. Since then, the country has been governed by Paolo Gentiloni's caretaker administration.

READ ALSO: Paolo Gentiloni, plucked from obscurity to become PM

He stayed on as leader of the centre-left party until February, however, when he quit, triggering a leadership battle as he vowed to win back his post.

At the time, he pointed the finger at rebels within the party, many of whom had opposed him in the December referendum.

"Schism is one of the worst words, only one is worse and that's the word blackmail. It is unacceptable for a party to be blocked by the diktat of the minority wing," said Renzi.

"You have the right to defeat us, not eliminate us. That's the heart of a democracy," he added. The 42-year-old had himself come to power as the result of a party coup, engineering the ousting of predecessor Enrico Letta - an ally of Emiliano - to become the country's youngest ever leader.

So how has Renzi been spending his time off?

He wrapped up his campaign in Brussels on Friday, telling reporters in a conference near the European Parliament that the choice of location was a symbol "that we are profoundly European."

He addressed the rise of populism across the continent - the PD's main rival in next year's election will be the anti-establishment Five Star Movement party - saying Europe "must be saved from the populists".

However, he also said the Union needed a "radical change".

He's been a vocal supporter of French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, congratulating him on progressing to the second round of elections and saying "Bravo Macron: the challenge starts now. A challenge that regards Italy too. Forward, together."

Interestingly, Renzi's slogan in the primaries, "In Cammino" (On the Move), is an exact translation of Macron's political movement, "En Marche!"

READ ALSO: How Matteo Renzi fell as swiftly as he rose 

 Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP</s>Renzi had previously resigned as prime minister in December after voters rejected a referendum— Reuters picROME, April 30 — Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi was today poised to win the leadership of Italy’s ruling Democratic Party (PD) in a primary election, propelling him back to the forefront of the national political scene.

Renzi, 42, resigned as prime minister in December after Italians overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional referendum.

A centrepiece of his political platform, the reform had aimed to streamline Italy’s parliamentary system.

In the aftermath of the December vote defeat and facing a rebellion from the left wing of his centre-left party, Renzi in February stepped down as party leader with the aim of regaining legitimacy in a future vote.

On Sunday he was up against two candidates considered further to the left: Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Michele Emiliano, who heads the southern Puglia region.

An internal vote conducted by the party earlier this month suggested a clear Renzi victory after he scored 66.7 per cent, with 25.3 per cent for Orlando and eight per cent for Emiliano.

When he first took over the leadership in December 2013, Renzi won the backing of close on 68 per cent of 2.8 million voters.

Similar figures would underpin the winner’s legitimacy—but Emiliano warned the election will be a flop if less people vote this time, while Orlando said that less than two million cast ballots would signal a failure.

Renzi set the bar much lower—at one million.

Voting booths, mainly stands on the streets, opened at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) and were to close at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT).

By midday organisers said more than 701,000 people had turned out—down on 900,000 at the same stage in 2013 but more than many observers had forecast.

The vote was open to all Italians over 16 years old, EU citizens residing in Italy and non-EU foreigners with valid residency permits—on condition of paying a donation of at least two euros.

Crowning of Renzi -Lorenzo De Sio, a professor of political sociology at the Luiss University in Rome said the turnout would be crucial in determining Renzi’s legitimacy.

“Rather than a competition, we’re looking at a process of legitimisation, a sort of crowning of Renzi as leader of the PD. We can expect a huge Renzi victory but with weak voter turnout. People on the left do not seem to be mobilised,” he says.

“If participation rates are around a million people or less, Renzi’s legitimisation won’t be strong, if it is between 1.5 and two million, he will wind up in a stronger position,” he adds.

The winner of the vote will lead the party during legislative elections slated for spring 2018 unless parliamentarians come to an agreement on electoral reform before then and call for early elections.

During the only televised debate between Renzi and his two competitors, the former prime minister said he would do “everything to bring back energy, momentum and vigour to the country”, and railed against “stagnation that seems to be blocking political and institutional life” since the referendum.

In addition to the contrasting styles, with Orlando and Emiliano generally more reserved than the exuberant Renzi, the debate laid bare key differences over national politics.

Renzi disagrees with his two challengers on a wealth tax, which he opposes.

If the spring election outcome requires the formation of a coalition following the legislative elections, Orlando and Emiliano have said they would seek to govern with left wing defectors or other parties on the left.

Renzi, meanwhile, has not ruled out forming an alliance with centre-right leader and former premier Silvio Berlusconi. — AFP
Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi regains the role of Secretary of the Democratic Party, after his resignation in February, in an open primary election.