Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called on Monday for a leadership contest in his ruling Democratic Party, opening the way for a showdown with his many enemies in the PD ahead of approaching national elections, Reuters reported. Renzi quit as premier in December after suffering a heavy defeat in a referendum on constitutional reform and wants early elections held this year in an effort to regain power. However, his drive for a national ballot has been slowed by calls from within the faction-riddled PD for him to step aside as party secretary, a post he has held since December 2013. "I think it's common sense to accept the idea of holding a Congress before a national vote," Renzi told PD bigwigs, referring to the assembly where the party leader is elected. "A cycle is closing in the leadership of the PD," he said. Renzi said it was not up to him to decide when national elections would take place. The natural end of the legislature is early next year, but Renzi has pushed for a vote by June, arguing the debt-laden country needs a new political impetus. The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which wants a referendum on membership of the euro currency, is also eager for early elections, with opinion polls showing it neck-and-neck with the centre-left PD, well ahead of other opposition parties. However, parliament has yet to agree on a new electoral law and three senior political sources told Reuters they expected newly appointed Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni to see out the legislature, regardless of what happened within the PD.
