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Italy's Renzi quits as center-left leader after election defeat

Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi resigned on Monday as leader of the center-left Democratic Party (PD) after a bruising defeat in a national election.

The PD took just under 20 percent of the vote in Sunday's ballot, its worst result since its creation in 2007, despite presiding over a modest recovery in the euro zone's third-largest economy.

Beaten by the anti-system 5-Star Movement and a center-right coalition dominated by the eurosceptic League, Renzi acknowledged the defeat at PD headquarters in Rome.

"It is obvious that I will leave the helm of the PD," said Renzi, who quit as prime minister when Italians voted against him in a 2016 referendum on constitutional reform.

Despite his decision to stand aside, he said he expected his party to shun any coalition talks.

"The Italian people have asked us to be in opposition and that is where we will go," he said." We will never form a government with anti-system forces," he added, referring to the 5-Star and the League.


Source :- abcnews

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