Italy and Austria vote in ‘day of reckoning’
Italians vote in Matteo Renzi’s constitutional referendum that threatens to destabilise the markets, while Austria's election re-run could admit Europe’s first far-right president in decades
Rome/Vienna — Italians and Austrians went to the polls on Sunday in votes that will reveal how deep the shift to Europe’s populist, far-right movements runs. In Italy, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi voted Sunday in a constitutional referendum that has put his future on the line, divided Italy and raised fears of political and economic turmoil across Europe. Renzi, who has vowed to resign if he loses, was counting on a last-minute turnaround in voter sentiment to win backing for his proposals to streamline parliament and centralise some powers currently held at regional level in the name of more effective and stable government. Opposition parties have denounced the proposed amendments to the 68-year-old constitution as ill-considered and dangerous for democracy because they remove important checks and balances on executive power. Spearheaded by the populist Five Star Movement, the biggest rival to Renzi’s Democratic party, the "No" campaign has also sought to capitalise on the Renzi’s d...
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