Italy’s Renzi Quits as Party Leader, Triggers Re-Election Fight
- Ex-premier Renzi battling dissidents in Democratic Party
- Leftist critics object to Renzi push for early elections
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Former premier Matteo Renzi quit as leader of Italy’s ruling party, triggering a re-election battle against minority dissidents that threatens the stability of the center-left government.
With critics from leftist factions threatening to abandon the Democratic Party, Renzi, 42, told the national assembly of the party in a Rome hotel on Sunday that he had handed in his resignation, acknowledging he was set back by defeat in the Dec. 4 constitutional referendum.