The Guardian — Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi has said he will resign on Monday after voters dismissed his plans for constitutional reform in a crushing referendum that saw close to 60% of voters opt for “no”:
Though Renzi had been predicted to lose, the margin – close to 20 percentage points – was much wider than expected. On a high turnout of 65.47%, 59.11% of voters chose no; 40.89% went for yes. Overseas voters bucked the trend, voting overwhelmingly (64.7%) for yes.
Renzi’s departure – and the prospect of politically uncertain months ahead – prompted the euro to fall to a 20-month low against the dollar.
The referendum – which was on questions of constitutional reform not the euro or EU – was nonetheless seized upon by opposition groups including the Five Star movement and the anti-immigration Northern League (Lega Nord), which called for snap elections.
Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella is thought unlikely to call fresh elections but is instead expected to appoint a caretaker prime minister. Finance minister Pier Carlo Padoan, culture minister Dario Franceschini and Senate president Pietro Grasso are the names most commonly touted.
Austria
Far-right Freedom party candidate Norbert Hofer was beaten in the presidential election re-run by Green-turned-independent Alexander Van der Bellen.
Hofer conceded after early results showed Van der Bellen ahead on 53.3%.
The new president-elect said the result was a “signal of hope and change to all the capitals in Europe”; with Green politician Werner Kogler hailing it as a small global turning of the tide in these uncertain, not to say hysterical and even stupid times.
Hofer called the intervention of former Ukip leader Nigel Farage – who had claimed the far-right candidate would call a Brexit-style referendum for Austria to leave the EU – a “crass misjudgment”.
