Rome: Justice Minister Andrea Orlando said yesterday he would challenge former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi for leadership of Italy’s ruling Democratic Party (PD), which is in the throes of a damaging split.
Orlando comes from left wing of centre-left party and joins Michele Emiliano, the governor of southern Puglia region, in what is so far a three-way race with Renzi.
“I have decided to run because I believe the PD has to change deeply if it is to be truly useful to Italy,” Orlando wrote on his Facebook page.
His move is the latest development in internal battles that are tearing the PD apart just a year before a national election.
Renzi, who has been under fire from internal party critics for months, resigned as head of the PD on Sunday to pave the way for the leadership contest in which he plans to run again.
The party has been in turmoil since Renzi resigned as prime minister in December after losing a referendum on proposed constitutional reforms.
A vocal minority accuses him of an arrogant leadership style and say he has dragged the party too far to the right. They also blame him for a series of setbacks in local elections.
This week a group of leftist PD dissidents announced they were leaving to form a breakaway party which opinion polls suggest could rob the PD of 6 to 10 percent of voting support.
