Italy votes in referendum with prime minister’s future at stake

Italians were voting on Sunday in a referendum on constitutional reform that will decide the political future of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who has promised to resign if he loses.

Financial markets and Europe’s politicians fear victory for the opposition ‘No’ camp could cause political instability and renewed turmoil for Italy’s battered banks, pushing the euro zone toward a fresh crisis.

Reuters reports that about 51 million Italians are eligible to vote on Renzi’s plan to drastically reduce the role of the upper house Senate and claw back powers from regional authorities.

By noon, 20 percent of citizens had voted, the Interior Ministry said, more than the 17 percent who had cast ballots by the same time in May 2014 for the European Parliament election.

Italians living abroad have voted by post over the past days and the ballots flown to a hangar on the outskirts of Rome.

With all the opposition parties lined up against the reform, a victory for Renzi would be a surprise and represent an enormous personal triumph for Italy’s youngest prime minister who often appeared to be fighting the campaign single-handed.

Renzi, 41, voted mid-morning in his Tuscan home town of Pontassieve, but made no comment.

All surveys published in the month before a blackout was imposed on Nov. 18 put the ‘No’ camp ahead. Private polls have continued to be conducted in the last two weeks and bookmakers say ‘No’ remains the clear favourite to win.