Renzi should stay if loses ref-Bersani (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, July 29 - Former Democratic Party (PD) chief Pier Luigi Bersani said Friday that Premier Matteo Renzi should stay on at the helm of government even if he loses the autumn referendum on his overhaul of Italy's political machinery. Renzi, the current head of the centre-left PD, has said he will quit if the Constitutional reform package is rejected. "If the no vote won, nothing would happen. It would be right for Renzi to stay in his place," said Bersani, a member of minority within the PD that is frequently critical of government policy and of Renzi's style of leading of the party. "It would certainly create political problem the day after though. "Linking the government to Constitution was a mistake. The Constitution has nothing to do with the government". The Constitutional reform ends Italy's unusual system of 'perfect bicameralism' in which the Senate has equal status to the House, reduces the number of lawmakers, contains institutional costs, does away with the National Council on Economy and Labour (CNEL) - a constitutional organ with 64 councillors plus a president - and scraps Italy's 110 provinces.