Puglia Governor Michele Emiliano
on Wednesday accused the leader of his centre-left Democratic
Party (PD), ex-premier Matteo Renzi, of getting everything wrong
while he was at the helm of government.
"The seriousness of the damage that Renzi has caused the
country and the PD are unprecedented," Emiliano told Radio24.
"These things will be in the history books. And, while I
doubt that anyone will talk about me in history books, I'd like
to avoid being on the wrong side".
Renzi quit as premier after his flagship Constitutional
reform was rejected in a referendum in December and his place
was taken by Premier Paolo Gentiloni, another PD member.
Renzi is pushing for election elections before the summer and
is expected to seek to be the PD's premier candidate. Emiliano
singled out the Renzi government's Italicum election law, which
the Constitutional Court recently rejected parts of, for
criticism. "Renzi did not just get all the rest wrong, but also
the election law," he said.
"He took us back to the First Republic via the Constitutional
Court".
The First Republic is the name given to Italy's post-war
political system until the early 1990s, when the Tangentopoli
corruption scandal caused the ruling establishment to collapse.
If parliament does not act, the Constitutional Court ruling
means that the Senate and the Lower House will have slightly
different election systems at the next vote.
Recent polls suggested that elections held with these systems
could be inconclusive.
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