After rapid rise, Italy's Renzi braced for fall

If voters reject Renzi's plan to streamline parliament, the center-left leader has said he will step down
Matteo Renzi rose from local government in Florence to running Italy in the space of only a few months.


Nearly three years later, Sunday's constitutional referendum could send the youthful prime minister sliding back down the greasy pole of politics, temporarily at least.

If passed, the referendum would alter 47 of 139 Constitutional articles, the most influential of which would affect the balance of power between Rome and the country's 20 regions, re-structure parliamentary composition, and change the way that laws are passed.

If, as the polls suggest they will, voters reject Renzi's plan to streamline parliament, the center-left leader has said he will step down.

According to Britain's The Guardian newspaper, Renzi himself is behind in the polls by five points, however, 25 percent of the Italian public remain unsure whether to support many of the changes that the Prime Minister wishes to implement.

The self-styled outsider in a hurry to shake up Italy finds himself on the inside, a target for those who say he has not been quick enough in fixing long-standing problems......http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/131665-161203-after-rapid-rise-italy-s-renzi-braced-for-fall
 [i24news.tv]
3/12/16
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