Italy must pick up the pieces after Matteo Renzi and his failed referendum

ITALY’S outgoing prime minister goes by the name of , or “Demolition Man”. By gambling on a deeply flawed constitutional referendum, which he lost by a humiliating 20-point margin on December 4th, Matteo Renzi now risks wrecking Italy’s fragile politics and economy.Many see his defeat as yet another eruption of populism, after the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump. Granted, anti-establishment parties spearheaded the No camp. But many Italians rightly rejected Mr Renzi’s amendment to protect existing democratic norms, not to smash them.