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The comeback kid: Matteo Renzi hot favourite to lead his party again

Former prime minister Matteo Renzi is widely expected to regain leadership of Italy's Democratic Party (PD) in a vote set for Sunday.

The comeback kid: Matteo Renzi hot favourite to lead his party again
Matteo Renzi is pictured during a press conference. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

Opinion polls show Renzi is on course to defeat his two rivals, Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Puglia governor Michele Emiliano, in the primary elections. Polls taken from April 12th-23rd all show Renzi with a strong lead, predicted to take between 57 and 72 percent of the votes.

Orlando is predicted to gain 16-29 percent of votes, with Emiliano on a projected 9-13 percent.

Most commentators in the Italian press saw Renzi as winning a TV debate between the three would-be leaders on Wednesday. In the debates, he said he would not rule out a coalition with Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, but would not reach a deal with the Progressive and Democratic Party, a group of former PD politicians who broke away from the party in February.

Renzi bowed out as prime minister in December, following a crushing defeat in a referendum on which he had staked his leadership. Since then, the country has been governed by Paolo Gentiloni's caretaker administration.

READ ALSO: Paolo Gentiloni, plucked from obscurity to become PM

He stayed on as leader of the centre-left party until February, however, when he quit, triggering a leadership battle as he vowed to win back his post.

At the time, he pointed the finger at rebels within the party, many of whom had opposed him in the December referendum. 

“Schism is one of the worst words, only one is worse and that's the word blackmail. It is unacceptable for a party to be blocked by the diktat of the minority wing,” said Renzi.

“You have the right to defeat us, not eliminate us. That's the heart of a democracy,” he added. The 42-year-old had himself come to power as the result of a party coup, engineering the ousting of predecessor Enrico Letta – an ally of Emiliano – to become the country's youngest ever leader.

So how has Renzi been spending his time off?

He wrapped up his campaign in Brussels on Friday, telling reporters in a conference near the European Parliament that the choice of location was a symbol “that we are profoundly European.”

He addressed the rise of populism across the continent – the PD's main rival in next year's election will be the anti-establishment Five Star Movement party – saying Europe “must be saved from the populists”.

However, he also said the Union needed a “radical change”.

He's been a vocal supporter of French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, congratulating him on progressing to the second round of elections and saying “Bravo Macron: the challenge starts now. A challenge that regards Italy too. Forward, together.”

Interestingly, Renzi's slogan in the primaries, “In Cammino” (On the Move), is an exact translation of Macron's political movement, “En Marche!”

READ ALSO: How Matteo Renzi fell as swiftly as he roseHow Matteo Renzi fell as swiftly as he rose
Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

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TERRORISM

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy was to increase surveillance in busy areas ahead of the Easter holidays and following the bombing of a Moscow concert hall, ministers agreed on Monday.

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy’s national committee for public security, chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, on Monday said anti-terrorism monitoring in Italy must be strengthened ahead of the Easter holidays, with more surveillance to be carried out at popular tourist spots and at “sensitive sites”.

The committee agreed on “the importance of continuing monitoring activity, including online, by police and intelligence forces for the identification of possible risk situations” in Italy, reported news agency Ansa.

The security meeting was convened following the terrorist attack in Moscow on Friday where armed men opened fire and set the building ablaze, killing at least 133 people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had stressed to the public on Sunday that Italy faced “no concrete risk” and said the country’s security and law enforcement services were “always on the alert to prevent any attack.”

“During the Easter holidays you will need to be very careful. We will always do the utmost to ensure the safety of citizens and tourists,” Tajani said, speaking on national broadcaster Rai’s current affairs show Restart.

READ ALSO: Terror alerts: Should I be worried about travelling to Italy?

The fight against terrorism “has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine,” the minister continued.

“We support Ukraine” as an invaded country in which international law has been violated, he said, “but as the Italian government we have expressed our condemnation of the attack [in Moscow] and closeness to the families of the victims and the survivors”.

Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano said on the same programme that the main terrorist threat Italy faced at the moment was mainly from “lone wolves” and “not so much from organised groups.”

“I believe that a group like the one that acted in the Moscow attack, which must have been trained and had logistical support, would be intercepted sooner in Italy,” he said.

“The most worrying threat” in Italy was online recruitment, he said, noting that propaganda was closely monitored.

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