Letta resigns as Italy PM
Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta yesterday resigned in a fast-paced political drama in Rome that paves the way for 39-year-old centre-left leader Matteo Renzi to take his place.
Financial markets cheered as Letta submitted his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano after just 10 tumultuous months at the head of a fragile coalition with the centre-right in which he struggled with a rampant economic crisis.
Napolitano will now begin consultations with political leaders to pick a nominee to replace Letta, which the presidency said would conclude today.
Letta was forced to announce his resignation on Thursday after his own Democratic Party overwhelmingly backed a motion by its new leader Renzi calling for a new government.
Yesterday, he "submitted the irrevocable resignation of the executive that he presides," the presidency said.
The outgoing premier smiled as he arrived at the presidential palace and thanked his supporters in a tweet after losing in the showdown with Renzi.
Letta was sworn in last April at the head of a coalition government, formed after some three months of uncertainty following inconclusive elections.
Italy, the third largest economy in the eurozone, has had more than its share of political turmoil over recent years. The last election to produce a leader was in 2008, when Berlusconi became prime minister for a third time. Since then, all the country's leaders have been appointed.
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