Italian Premier Enrico Letta battled Wednesday to stay in office amid a power play by supporters of the dynamic head of his party, Matteo Renzi, to replace him as premier in the latest chapter to convulse Italy's fragile political stability. Renzi arrived at Letta's office at Palazzo Chigi for a make-or-break meeting ahead of a Democratic Party summit on Thursday that is expected to determine the government's next steps. In a last-ditch effort to hang on, Letta vowed Tuesday to outline his government agenda for 2014 to reboot the stalled economy and enact promised reforms. But speculation mounted that the Democratic Party might instead simply replace him with Renzi — the third Democratic leader in a year who has tried to govern. "This is the moment of truth," said Democratic lawmaker Davide Zoggia on Sky TG24, urging Letta to be "generous" in stepping aside to let Renzi kickstart the government agenda and possibly pick up more support in Parliament to head off any threat of early elections. Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, who appointed Letta premier after February 2013 elections failed to produce an executive that could govern, has said the ball is in the Democrats' court to decide how to move forward. Renzi, the brash, 39-year-old mayor of Florence, has positioned himself as something of a breath of fresh air for Italians disillusioned with a political class that has failed to bring Italy out of recession or alleviate youth unemployment, which currently stands at about 40 percent. He has long said he wanted the legitimacy of elections to spur any run for the premiership, but mounting pressures within his party and complaints from Italy's powerful business lobby and unions appeared to have crystalized in the belief that Letta's days were numbered. It remains to be seen how Letta's supporters in Parliament might accept the change. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/94054.aspx
