Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (R) hands over the cabinet minister bell to Italy's newly-appointed Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni at the handover ceremony at Chigi Palace in Rome, capital of Italy, on Dec. 12, 2016. PAimages/Xinhua/Sipa USA. All rights reserved.
"Matteo Renzi has pressed the self-destruction button," Pierluigi Bersani said a few days ago. The former is the (centrist) leader of the ruling Democratic party (PD), the left wing of which is informally headed by the latter, a diehard communist in his youth.
Dramatic words. Should we be surprised? Perhaps not. PD "was born dead," prominent philosopher Massimo Cacciari famously stated years ago. Today, his apocalyptic judgement feels tragically spot on. The party, many analysts fear, could soon fall apart, each component going separate ways.
