Renzi offers change to Italy

Matteo Renzi in Torino in September 2013
ROME - Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi has ushered in a youthful transition to Italian politics after being elected leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) in a landslide vote.
 
The 38-year-old mayor won 68 percent of the vote in Sunday's primary election which saw nearly three million votes cast by centre-left supporters. Signor Renzi, who frequently engages with his supporters through social media, hopes to bring a fresh, young change to the party previously headed by 68-year-old Guglielmo Epifani.  
 
"Now it's up to a new generation, my friends. It's our turn to drive the car," said Signor Renzi. "People are weary and disillusioned," he said. "They don't believe anymore. I believe, and that's why I do politics - because I still believe."
 
Though Signor Renzi offers a new, younger voice to the party, he has assured that he will not bring about the end of the left, but rather "the end for a group of the left's political leaders."
 
Signor Renzi has led a campaign to "scrap" old Italian politics and has argued for more spending cuts, lower taxes, and the elimination of privileges among the political elite, which has even gained him some popularity among those on the right.
 
"From now on there will be no more shady deals. We have to take account of the two and a half million people who voted," said Signor Renzi. "They won't give us a second chance to change things."
 
Some have worried that the success of Signor Renzi could lead to difficulties for party member Prime Minister Enrico Letta, who at 47 years old is also quite younger than many other Italian politicians. However, the prime minister has said that he is confident in Signor Renzi.
 
"We will work with team spirit with the PD's new secretary in a way that is fruitful and useful to Italy and to the centre-left," Prime Minister Letta said.