Novus ordo seclorum (a new order of the ages) — for it is no longer business as usual in Rome. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tendered his resignation to Italian president Sergio Mattarella this week following his defeat in a constitutional referendum. Renzi will leave office in due course, but it is still a mystery who will move into the Italian prime minister's residence of the Palazzo Chigi. A sense of relief is creeping over Italy, even though there is also a measure of uncertainty. A key element of Renzi's proposals intended to alter Italy's decision-making processes. Currently, both houses of the Italian parliament have the same legislative functions and powers. That would no longer have been the case had Renzi had his way. As Al-Ahram Weekly went to press, President Mattarella asked Renzi to continue as prime minister for a week, and he accepted the president's request. Had the constitutional reforms proposed by Renzi been approved, only the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house) would have been fully involved in passing laws. The Senate (the upper house) would have become a body representing local authorities, while retaining some legislative powers in key areas such as constitutional reform and the ratification of EU treaties. Had the reforms passed, Renzi would have maintained political control of Italy until the country's next general election in 2018. The omens augured ill, but the failed Italian referendum is no Brexit, or decision to leave the European Union. In January 2016, Renzi struck a bargain with the European Commission on how to address Italy's €360 billion bad loans. The deal involves a guarantee scheme backed by the Italian state and the use of private investors to purchase non-performing loans. However, as Renzi's government collapses, this guarantee scheme has been called into question. Several Italian opposition parties, predominantly the Five Star Movement, the Northern League, and the Italian Left oppose Renzi, and the referendum was as much personal as political. The Five Star Movement, or Movimento Cinque Stelle (M5S), was founded by Beppe Grillo, a popular comedian and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a Web strategist. It recently launched a campaign to hold a referendum with regard to the euro in Italy. Moreover, the M5S is pro-Russian, and party stalwarts Alessandro Di Battista and Manlio Di Stefano recently paid a visit to Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, praising him as a hero and denouncing “Russophobia” in Europe. M5S claims to be “post-ideological”, but it is not clear what that means. Part of its appeal is that it is anti-establishment. Renzi lost this week's referendum partly because he is viewed as part of the Italian political elite, in much the same manner as Hillary Clinton was in the US when she stood for election as president and lost to Republican Party candidate Donald Trump. The Five Star Movement has drastically changed the political landscape of Italy, and Renzi lost by a wide margin precisely because of the “hidden no-voters”. To repeat the parallel with Trump's triumph in the US, many Americans secretly supported Trump, but were reluctant to declare their preference for the president-elect in public, or to the pollsters for that matter. The M5S in Italy also draws comfort from anti-establishment sentiments among ordinary Italians, many of whom detest the pillars of the Italian parliament, the political elite who they say have milked the country dry. The Five Star Movement is also staunchly anti-European Union, and it is not enthusiastic about the euro. There will not be a break from the single currency, however, as Italian law does not allow referendums repealing international treaties. But in the wake of this week's referendum result in Italy, 2017 promises to be a landmark year for Europe in general and Italy in particular. In accordance with Article 138 of the Italian Constitution, a referendum was called because the relevant constitutional law had not been approved by a qualified majority of two-thirds of the vote in each house of parliament on the second round. M5S would also like to do away with the upper house and cut down on the colossal expenses of running the Italian state and its bureaucracy, which it considers to be something of a dinosaur. Although ousted some time ago, former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi became one of Italy's most flamboyant political and economic figures over the last two decades. He was a Trump of sorts. Berlusconi, in sharp contrast with Renzi, had a knack for sensationalism. Renzi was much maligned, but he was no Berlusconi. Italy is also a land of contradictions. The North and South of the Italian Peninsula are still largely two different countries. The Mezzogiorno, or “midday” region of Italy, is far poorer than the prosperous North. Renzi himself hails from affluent Tuscany. Then there is the question of the Roman Catholic Church. The Holy See has decreed it to be a mortal sin for Catholics to vote for the Communist Party and has excommunicated the party's supporters. The fortunes of the Communists in Italy are fast waning, however, and it is the populism of the likes of the M5S that has swept much of Europe, including Italy, that is on the rise. Italy's relative clout as a trading power has also been in steady decline, even if it is the third-largest economy in the Eurozone after Germany and France. Had Italian voters approved his constitutional law, it would have achieved the most extensive constitutional reform in Italy since the end of the monarchy. The motto Novus ordo seclorum can be translated as “a new order of the ages,” and it applies to Italy and perhaps Europe in its entirety. Renzi's reforms not only aimed to influence the organisation of the Italian parliament, but also improve, according to its proponents, the poor governmental stability of the country. Italy has a long history of such instability. The first attempts at reforming the Senate took place in the 1980s, when the first bicameral committee for constitutional reform was created. Today, there are lurking dangers regardless of the celebrations of M5S and its supporters, who are now silent no more. Much now depends on how the M5S will handle Italy's motley crises. Renzi's resignation may sound like something to welcome – people's power as opposed to the entrenched political establishment has now been proven pivotal for Italy's future. Renzi had staked his legitimacy on the vote and declared beforehand that he would resign if the people voted against his reforms. He had high hopes for Italy. He would have liked Rome to host the 2024 Olympics. But Rome's mayor, the M5S's Virginia Raggi, has rubbished the idea, arguing that it is too expensive for Italy's floundering economy. Other elements of economic consequence are less visible. Some are warning that it is a pity that Renzi's reforms have been so disastrously botched. M5S celebrated Renzi's political demise with Grillo. “You cannot keep lying to the people without suffering the consequences,” Grillo tweeted. It is his show now.
