ROME — Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Monday launched a comeback bid with a move to reassert his authority over his fractious Democratic Party before an election due in the next year. Renzi, who quit as premier after losing a December referendum but still leads the PD, secured the backing of the party’s executive for an assembly that will set a date for the leadership vote. "We are coming to the end of a cycle," Renzi told fellow party heavyweights, confirming he would again be a candidate to lead the party into elections that must take place by next February. But he insisted on Monday that he did not think it was up to him when the election was held. Renzi stepped down as premier after his constitutional reform proposals were overwhelmingly rejected.

Source: Viet Nam News February 14, 2017 03:51 UTC