Italian opposition step up fight against Renzi's electoral reform

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi gestures as he talks during a joint news conference with Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at Chigi Palace in Rome April 20, 2015. REUTERS/Max Rossi

ROME (Reuters) - Resistance to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's proposed reform of Italy's electoral law hardened on Tuesday when opposition parties walked out of a parliamentary committee intended to discuss the changes.

But Renzi, who says the reform is necessary to give Italy more stable and efficient government, vowed not to back down. The plan is contested by parts of his own Democratic Party (PD) as well as by opposition parties on both the left and right.