ROME—Italians voted Sunday in a referendum on constitutional reforms that Premier Matteo Renzi has staked his political future on, hoping to survive the rising populist forces that have gained traction across Europe.
Renzi has said he will resign if the reforms, which he contends will modernize Italy and reduce its legendary bureaucracy, are rejected. Opposition politicians, ranging from the far-right to the far-left have vowed to press for a new government if voters reject Parliamentary legislation overhauling much of the post-war Constitution.
Even some figures in Renzi’s Democratic Party, including ex-Communists, said they'd vote against the reforms.
The premier made no comment as he voted Sunday in Pontassieve, a Tuscan town east of Florence, along with his wife, Agnese Landini. He was to return to Rome to watch the outcome of the vote.
Some of Renzi’s political opponents were hoping to tap into the populist sentiment that has been gaining ground with the U.K. vote in June to leave the European Union and the U.S. presidential victory last month by billionaire political outsider Donald Trump.
A “yes” vote would strengthen Renzi’s 2 ½-year-old government, giving it impetus to complete its five-year term and time to prepare for elections in 2018, while a “no” vote would favor early elections sometime next year.
More than 46 million Italians were eligible to cast votes while another 4 million were registered to vote abroad. The overseas votes were being tallied under guard at a warehouse outside of Rome.
The risk of political instability in Italy, Europe’s fourth-largest economy, triggered market reaction before the vote, with bank stocks sinking and borrowing costs on sovereign debt rising.
