The government of embattled Italian prime minister, Enrico Letta, looked close to collapse as he dug in his heels in the face of an increasingly formidable threat to his premiership from the leader of his centre-left party. Letta insisted it was "not in [his] DNA" to break with the agenda of his government and challenged Italy's political players '" chiefly Matteo Renzi, his ambitious young rival '" to "lay their cards on the table".

Less than 10 months after it was born from the inconclusive mess of last February's general elections, Letta's coalition government appears close to collapse as long-running criticisms of its lacklustre record gathered force, putting Renzi, the 39-year-old mayor of Florence, in a leading position to take over as prime minister in an election-free process branded by the media as la staffetta '" the relay.

The situation was opaque and the likely outcome of the power struggle unclear . The large national committee of the Democratic Party (PD) was due to meet on Thursday to deal with the issue, possibly even putting it to a vote. Giorgio Napolitano, the 88-year-old president whose role it is to appoint prime ministers, has made it clear that the party must give a clear sign of what it wants.

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