ROME (AP) – When Matteo Renzi burst onto Italy’s national political stage, he set out to consign all that was outdated and ineffective in the country to the scrap heap, pledging to make economically lumbering Italy more competitive.
Now, not even three years into office as premier, Renzi himself risks being trashed.
Much to his alarm, a yes-or-no referendum Sunday on government-championed constitutional reforms has been transformed by rivals into a virtual plebiscite on the 41-year-old leader, Italy’s youngest. A win by the “No” camp on a centerpiece reform of his government would be expected to trigger Renzi’s resignation.
Some political opponents are also depicting Italy’s referendum as an occasion to pass judgment on the country’s ruling elite. They hope to tap into the populist fervor bubbling up across much of Europe – and even across the Atlantic, with the U.S. presidential victory by political outsider Donald Trump.
“Go with your gut. Look them in the face and vote ‘No,'” comic Beppe Grillo exhorted several thousand followers of his anti-establishment 5-Star Movement after a march near Rome’s ancient Mouth-of-Truth monument.