Minniti pulls out of PD primaries

(ANSA) - Rome, December 6 - Former interior minister Marco Minniti announced in an interview published in Thursday's edition of La Repubblica that he was pulling out of the leadership primaries of the opposition centre-left Democratic Party. Minniti said he was pulling out "to save the party".
    The PD is still reeling after suffering its worst-ever showing in March's general election.
    The other main candidates for the March 3 primaries are Lazio Governor Nicola Zingaretti and former agriculture minister Maurizio Martina, who was caretaker PD leader after the election debacle.
    "When I said I was willing to run, the decision was based on two aims - to unite our party as much as possible and reinforce it in order to build an alternative to the national populist government," Minniti said.
    He added that he hoped a "strong leader" emerges from the primary.
    There has been speculation that ex-premier and former PD leader Matteo Renzi could break away to form a new party. "Don't ask me to follow the divisions of the PD," Renzi said Thursday.
    "I won't be the little puppet master of the party congress".