Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has promised to resign by the end of 2015 if his reform agenda isn’t adopted.
In an interview in the New Yorker magazine out Monday, Renzi said that, “This year, I will change Italy or change jobs.”
Italians “love their past, their present, but they need a vision and an explanation of their future — in the possibility of a future,” Renzi told the magazine. “The mentality of Italy has to change, because reforms aren’t possible without everybody’s participation.”
The former mayor of Florence, who is 40, has cultivated an image of a young and dynamic reformer to seize the political initiative since coming into office in February 2014. He won a couple important political battles earlier this year, getting an ally elected Italian president and pushing through a new electoral law.
But he was bruised in May’s local elections, which saw his center-left block lose support to the right.
Renzi has threatened to step down before without naming a date. By placing a deadline he’s trying to pressure the Italian parliament. His cabinet is expected to consider the latest package of fiscal reforms. A confidence vote in the Senate is also possible on Renzi’s education overhaul, which would boost funding for Italy’s schools.
Jacopo Barigazzi and Ryan Heath contributed to this article.