Italian PM Matteo Renzi to Resign After Referendum Defeat

Franco Origlia/Getty Images(ROME) — Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Sunday he will resign after a referendum defeat.

Italians voted on a proposal that would attempt to streamline Italy’s lawmaking process by reducing the powers of the Senate. Renzi had said the reforms would have cut the country’s bureaucracy, but many saw the vote as a referendum on the prime minister’s centrist government.

Renzi said he would offer his resignation on Monday at a cabinet meeting.

“Good luck to us all,” he said according to BBC.

The Italian prime minister’s resignation mirrors the exit of David Cameron, the former prime minister of United Kingdom, who stepped down when British voters decided in a referendum to leave the European Union. Cameron had heavily campaigned to remain in the EU.

The result of Italy’s referendum also comes amid the rise of anti-establishment sentiment in the world. Donald Trump was elected president of the U.S. nearly a month ago and France’s anti-immigration and anti-European Union National Front Party leader Marine Le Pen is gaining support in her country.

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