Rome--Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's centre-left party was playing the blame game Monday after suffering a setback in regional elections which saw both the right-wing Northern League and comeback kid Silvio Berlusconi celebrate key wins.
Projections showed centre-left candidates ahead in five regions but Renzi's party paid the price of internal divisions which split the leftist vote in Liguria, leaving a delighted centre-right to claim victory in the northwestern region.
Sunday's polls were the first in recession-hit Italy since European elections a year ago, in which Renzi's Democratic Party (PD) stormed to victory with just over 40 percent of the vote.
While the premier's popularity remains high, the results were a warning of the threats he faces from a rise in leftist dissidents, anti-European and anti-immigrant sentiment, and the phantom of the billionaire Berlusconi.
AFP
