Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Monday formally resigned after a crushing referendum defeat that has sent shockwaves across Europe — though his departure is to be delayed by a final task: passing a budget.
Renzi handed his resignation to Italian President Sergio Mattarella after voters resoundingly rejected his constitutional reform proposals in Sunday’s referendum.
The departure of the prime minister came after he staked his future on the outcome of the vote.
In an apparent bid to ease investor fears, the presidency said in a statement that Mattarella had “asked the prime minister to postpone his resignation” until the budget for next year has been passed, a move expected by the end of the week, according to Italian media.
The government has already won a vote of confidence on the budget in the lower house of parliament.
Renzi, who in 2014 became Italy’s youngest-ever prime minister, was left with no option but to quit after his proposals to streamline parliament were rejected by voters by a 59-41 percent margin.
The 41-year-old former mayor of Florence, who came to power promising reforms, defended his record.
He wrote on Facebook: “1,000 difficult but wonderful days. Thanks to everyone. Viva l’Italia.”
Italian media said he told his Cabinet that he had agreed to see the budget passed before his departure “out of a sense of responsibility.”
Initial market reaction to Renzi’s departure has been subdued.
Some analysts said the referendum could yet come to be seen as a landmark moment.
Poll data showed the “No” vote was strongest in areas with high unemployment, in the relatively poor south and among young voters, pointing to a correlation with levels of discontent.
Britain’s Nigel Farage, who spearheaded the “Brexit” campaign, said the vote appeared to have been “more about the euro than constitutional change.”
Holger Schmieding, at the Berenberg private bank, said the risk that Italy could choose to leave the euro, while still remote, had increased.
Capital Economics said: “Italy has taken the first step along a path that could lead it out of the eurozone.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking in Berlin on Monday at the start of his European farewell tour, said the victory for the “No” camp reflected “anxieties” sweeping Western democracies.
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