Let's go across the pond for a change and maybe some of you Euros can help make some sense of yesterday's election results in Austria and Italy.
It seems clear that Van Der Bellen's win, albeit a narrow one, in Austria is a rebuke to the nationalistic, anti-immigrant, anti-Euro movements.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-04/european-populism-suffers-setback-as-austria-chooses-pro-eu-path
However, maybe some one could help me out with the Italy referendum which seems to have triggered Renzi's resignation. After reading this article (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-05/italy-sinks-into-political-limbo-as-renzi-swept-away-by-defeat) I'm a bit confused as to where Renzi's stands in the Euro political spectrum; is he a Tony Blair type neoliberal or a more conservative figure? Does this mean new elections are a certainty in Italy? If so, what are the likely results?
Thanks in advance.
Austria: the fascist party in Austria has been quite strong for a decade or two now, but not quite strong enough to warrant a majority of the votes. The earlier election, which went to the wire, now went a bit worse for the fascists possibly due to the effect of Brexit and Trump, which has led to unease among certain segments of the electorate.
Italy: people voted against the referendum to mess with Renzi. It's not that he is terribly unpopular, but certainly not popular enough to make this referendum about him and get away with it. He was also backstabbed by members of his own party eyeing his position. Renzi's tenure has been somewhat like Hollande's in France: it's not that he made things much worse than they were before, but he certainly hasn't made things much better. This has disappointed people looking for change and has bolstered support for FSM. Of course, there's no chance that FSM is going to fix anything.