Italian President asks Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to delay resignation

The comments will add to growing support for a quick vote as the only way to avoid protracted political limbo in Italy following Sunday’s “No” vote (4 December) on Renzi’s constitutional reforms.

Following the consultations, which will begin on Thursday evening, Mr Mattarella is widely expected to ask a member of Mr Renzi’s cabinet, or a politician from his Democratic Party, to try to form a new government.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi speaks at a news conference at Palazzo Chigi in Rome on December 4.

“I lost, I say it out loud, albeit with a lump in my throat”, said Renzi, who took office in February 2014. However, Mattarella urged him to put his planned resignation on hold until parliament had approved the 2017 budget.

The two largest opposition parties, the eurosceptic, anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the right-wing Northern League, are both pushing hard for an election.

Elections are scheduled for spring 2018, but Renzi’s humiliating defeat in the referendum will likely hasten that date considerably, possibly bringing a vote in spring 2017.

The party, founded by comedian Beppe Grillo, could campaign on a promise to hold a referendum on Italy’s continued membership in the euro.

“We have no fear of anything or anybody, if the others want” elections soon, he said.

Ultimately, it will be up to Mattarella to decide whether Parliament should be sent packing early.

Matteo Renzi has arrived at the Quirinal presidential palace in Rome to formally hand in his resignation as Italian premier. “This is clear. Never again servants of a mistaken currency or of a insane banking system”, Northern League leader Matteo Salvini said.

“The market seems to be hoping for the best, and I think some of these expectations need to be validated before we see further dollar strength”, said Bank of Singapore’s Sim, referring to the hopes for increased USA fiscal stimulus.

European Central Bank sources told Reuters last week that the bank was ready to step up purchases of Italian government bonds temporarily if the referendum result were to spur a sell-off, but traders said on Monday that they had seen no evidence of the ECB in the market so far.

Opposition parties had denounced the proposed amendments to the 68-year-old constitution as risky for democracy because they would have removed important checks and balances on executive power. And, as we have seen in Greece, there is no appetite among the electorate to vote for the painful economic reform needed to remedy the situation.

In the face of the negative polls, Renzi had forecast that the “silent majority” would prove the polls wrong, suggesting that Italians were reluctant to admit they were going to vote “Yes”.

The pound fell by more than 10 per cent as it became clear the United Kingdom had voted for Brexit, while the USA dollar swung wildly in the hours following Mr Trump’s win. Letta and then Renzi were appointed.