The transformations that took place in the Italian political system during the past few months produced an outcome that few observers were expecting. On Feb. 14, Enrico Letta resigned his post as prime minister after having lost the support of his party, the center-left Democratic Party (PD). A few days later, Matteo Renzi, the recently elected PD leader, formed a new government backed by the same parliamentary majority that had supported Letta.
How can we explain this puzzling reshuffle, and where is it likely to lead? A modernizer with cross-party appeal, the 39-year-old Renzi has long been considered the key emerging figure in Italian politics. After being elected to the PD leadership in December, Renzi started strongly advocating a more forceful course of action by the Letta government.
Most importantly, Renzi took on the crucial task of brokering an accord for a new electoral law, as the Italian Constitutional Court had invalidated the previous system. In a move that proved controversial, Renzi sought an agreement on the electoral law with former center-right Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who, despite having been convicted of tax fraud and voted out of Parliament, still acts as the leader of Forza Italia, the main center-right party. Forza Italia was—and still is—in opposition, yet Renzi argued that for the electoral law to succeed, it needed the broadest possible agreement. After frantic negotiations, the two leaders struck a deal at the end of January.