Italy’s Renzi asked to stay on as caretaker PM

Instead, Italian voters pulled the plug on the reforms, and now political leaders agree the electoral rules as they now stand are unworkable.

Without Mr Renzi there to corral his lawmakers, chances of early elections begin to mount, potentially opening the door to the anti-euro Five Star Movement, run by Mr Beppe Grillo, 68.

In this slow shutter speed photo senators vote during a confidence vote on the 2017 budget law at the Italian Senate, in Rome, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016. Italian President Sergio Mattarella told Italian premier Matteo Ren.

Given the hard task confronting him in appointing a new head of government, Mr Mattarella will probably be grateful for some extra time to ponder his next move.

Following the talks, Mr Renzi told reporters he would spend Thursday with his family, adding: “Hopefully tomorrow I will have more luck in the PlayStation battle with my sons than I have had here”.

The European Union and the Western “establishment”, still reeling from Brexit and the Trump revolution, suffered another major blow on December 4 as Italy overwhelmingly shot down Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s referendum on constitutional reform.

The former mayor of Florence will also likely meet with Mattarella at the presidential palace after the budget passes to officially resign.

A chorus of comments from party chiefs after the referendum suggests consensus may be growing for an early vote in spring, though the final decision on when to dissolve parliament rests with Mattarella. Several opposition forces are pressing for parliamentary elections ahead of their scheduled 2018 date.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he will resign after losing a key referendum on constitutional reform, plunging the country into political turmoil and the European Union in further uncertainty.

“Democracy was the victor”, Grillo wrote in a post-vote blog that marked a significant change in the party’s position on the electoral law.

Italy’s youngest ever premier had been feted around the world as a pro-European reformer and lauded by US President Barack Obama for his “bold, progressive” leadership. The referendum was roundly rejected in national voting, with close to 60 percent of voters weighing in against the changes. But I lost and I say it loudly. Then he or some other figure, perhaps from his Democrats, Parliament’s largest party, could be asked to lead a government focused electoral reform.

But Renzi, as head of the party, could very well decide that early elections are the best course, to avoid the risk of angering the electorate by delaying, ventured Mario Calabresi, editor and commentator at La Repubblica daily. Matteo Renzi, though no longer retaining that post, is expected to remain a prominent leader within his country’s political scene. He was first due to put his proposals to colleagues in the Democratic Party (PD).

He formally handed in his resignation to Mattarella after the country’s 2017 budget was approved in Senate.

After almost 60 percent of voters cast “no” ballots, he told the nation his government was finished.