Renzi says no alibis, primaries April 30 (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, March 3 - Ex-premier Matteo Renzi on Friday ruled out a postponement in next month's Democratic Party (PD) primaries in which he is standing to be re-elected leader of the centre-left group. The PD has been rocked in recent days by a corruption probe in which Renzi's father Tiziano is under investigation and by allegations of irregularities in new membership applications in Campania ahead of the party's congress.
    "The congress - with the primaries on April 30 - will be a great occasion to decide together what Italy we want in Europe and how the PD should be the engine of that change," Renzi wrote on his Facebook page. "So (there is) no alibi to postpone the debate". Culture Minister Dario Franceschini on Friday denied reports that he had proposed a delay. "I never proposed postponing the primaries," Franceschini told ANSA. "I don't usually spend my days denying fanciful behind-the-scenes reports that regularly come out to cause trouble. But this time I want to do so to prevent a debate about something that has been invented".