Italian PM Matteo Renzi resigns after heavy poll defeat

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has resigned after suffering a heavy defeat in a referendum over his plan to reform the constitution.

In a late-night news conference, he said he took responsibility for the outcome, and said the No camp must now make clear proposals.

With most ballots counted, the No vote leads with 60% against 40% for Yes.

The turnout was nearly 70%, in a vote that was seen as a chance to register discontent with the prime minister.
"Good luck to us all," Mr Renzi told reporters. He said he would tell a Cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon that he was resigning, and then tender his resignation to the Italian president after two-and-a-half years in office.

Mr Renzi said the reforms he proposed would have cut Italy's bureaucracy and made the country more competitive.

But the referendum was widely seen as a chance to register discontent with the prime minister.

The No vote was supported by populist parties, and the referendum was regarded as a barometer of anti-establishment sentiment in Europe.

The populist Five Star Movement says it is getting ready to govern Italy now that Mr Renzi is resigning. "Starting tomorrow we'll be at work on a Five Star government," one of its leaders, Luigi Di Maio, said.

The movement, led by comedian Beppe Grillo, spearheaded the winning No campaign.

Opposition leader Matteo Salvini, of the anti-immigrant Northern League, called the referendum a "victory of the people against the strong powers of three-quarters of the world".

There has been an immediate reaction from right-wing leaders in Europe.

The leader of Front National in France, Marine Le Pen, tweeted her congratulations to the Northern League.
"The Italians have disavowed the EU and Renzi. We must listen to this thirst for freedom of nations," she said.(BBC)