Italy's Renzi says to quit after crushing referendum defeat

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation on Dec. 5, hours after it was confirmed he had suffered a crushing defeat in a referendum on constitutional reform that has sparked fresh jitters about the fate of a united Europe.
"My experience of government finishes here," Renzi told a press conference, acknowledging that the No campaign had won an "extraordinarily clear" victory in a vote on which he had staked his future.

Interior Ministry projections suggested the No camp, led by the populist Five Star Movement, had carried the vote by a margin of almost 60-40 with a near 70 percent turnout underlining the high stakes and the intensity of the debate.

His decision to quit after just two-and-a-half years in office deals a blow to the European Union, already reeling from multiple crises and struggling to overcome anti-establishment forces that have battered the Western world this year.

Markets seemed to take Renzi's departure in their stride. Stocks and the euro fell in early trading in Asia but there were no signs of panic with the possibility of his resignation having already been largely factored in.

Renzi was due to hand in his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella later in the day on Dec. 5 following a final meeting of his cabinet.

Mattarella will then be charged with brokering the appointment of a new government or, if he can't do that, ordering early elections.

Five Star founder and leader Beppe Grillo called for an election to be called "within a week" on the basis of a recently adopted electoral law which is designed to ensure the leading party has a parliamentary majority - a position Five Star could well find themselves in at the next election.  

"Democracy was the winner...