Election will have major consequences for Italian politics and prime minister Matteo Renzi’s long-term ambitionsThe shadowy process of selecting a new Italian president will begin on Thursday, testing the political prowess of the country’s centre-left prime minister, Matteo Renzi, less than a week after elections in Greece rattled the European establishment.The election is also expected to prove the enduring influence of Silvio Berlusconi, the disgraced former prime minister and media mogul who remains at the helm of the centre-right opposition party Forza Italia. Continue reading...