These were the words of former Italian premier Matteo Renzi as he made an astounding political comeback in Sunday's primary election, cruising to victory and regaining leadership of the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD).
After around 2 million people took to the polls, Renzi came out with about 72 per cent of the vote, defeating his opponents Justice Minister Andrea Orlando, who had 19 per cent, and Michele Emiliano, the governor of Puglia, who had about 9 per cent.
The 42-year-old leader resigned as premier in December after his bid to introduce a series of constitutional reforms was rejected in a national referendum, and he was replaced by Paolo Gentiloni, the party’s former foreign minister.
Renzi will now begin preparing his party for parliamentary elections, which are set to take place in May, 2018.
Recent opinion polls indicate that the ruling PD party is falling behind the increasingly popular anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), which wants Italy out of the EU.
The primary election unfolded ahead of the arrival of dozens of international leaders, including US President Donald Trump, to the Sicilian town of Taormina for a G7 convention on May 26-27.
