Italian PM Matteo Renzi to Officially Resign

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will officially resign Wednesday after the Italian senate approved the country’s 2017 budget. Renzi wrote on Twitter that he would formally step down at 7 p.m. local time. The premier visited the Quirinale Palace on Monday to meet with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, just one day after he suffered a stinging defeat in a referendum on changes to the country’s constitution. Mattarella had asked that Renzi stay on as prime minister until the budget was approved. Mattarella will now be tasked with choosing a new premier, who will serve in a caretaker role until elections, which are slated for early 2018, take place. Some, including opposition parties like the Five-Star Movement and Northern League, have called for elections to be held in 2017, in an attempt to build momentum from their efforts to topple Renzi’s constitutional reforms, which were voted down 60 percent to 40 percent.