page_title: 2017 Democratic Party (Italy) leadership election
section_title: 2016 constitutional referendum
hierarchical_section_title: 2017 Democratic Party (Italy) leadership election / Background / 2016 constitutional referendum
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Matteo Renzi alla conferenza stampa post referendum costituzionale 2016
context_page_description: The 2017 Democratic Party leadership election was an open primary election held on 30 April 2017. The three candidates were Matteo Renzi, former Prime Minister and party secretary until February 2017, Michele Emiliano, President of Apulia, and Andrea Orlando, the Minister of Justice. Renzi was elected by a landslide 70%, and appointed Maurizio Martina as his deputy secretary.
context_section_description: After constitutional reforms had passed both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate multiple times, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced that he would hold a constitutional referendum on 4 December 2016 to seek approval for the changes; whilst the reform was approved by a simple majority of the Parliament, it did not achieve the two thirds necessary to avoid a referendum, as per Article 138 of the Italian Constitution.
  Voters were asked whether they approved of amending the Constitution to transform the Senate of the Republic into a "Senate of Regions", with 100 members made up of regional councillors and mayors of large cities, akin to Germany's Bundesrat. The reform would diminish the size of the Italian senate from 315 to 100, making all senators indirectly elected by regional councils and mayors. In addition, the reform makes it impossible for the senate to veto legislation most legislation, instead only having a delay power except for a select number of subjects.
  Following early results which indicated that the "No" side was clearly ahead, Renzi conceded defeat and resigned.
caption: Renzi announces his resignation after the referendum result.
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