(ANSA) – ROME, JUN 9 – The turnout for five referenda on labour and citizenship rights was 30%, far short of the 50%+1 quorum needed to be valid, with all polling stations counted, the interior ministry said after the two days of voting closed at three pm Monday.
While the centre-left opposition blasted the government’s calls to snub the vote, government officials said the result had been a defeat for the opposition which had said the possible passage of the referenda would have sent an “eviction notice” to Giorgia Meloni’s executive.
The referenda, first proposed by Italy’s biggest and most leftwing trade union CGIL, sought to abolish a series of regulations, four regarding labour legislation, including three stemming from the 2016 Jobs Act liberalising the labour market, and one on the rules for non-EU citizens to gain Italian citizenship.
A yes to the citizenship vote would have halved the number of years of residence in Italy necessary for non-EU citizens to be eligible to apply for Italian citizenship from 10 to five.
Meloni went to her voting station on Sunday but did not pick up her ballot paper, as she had announced controversially ahead of the vote, meaning she was one of the many conservatives who did not contribute to the votes reaching quorum.
Government officials had strongly urged Italians to snub the vote and go to the beach instead- After the results came through, opposition officials repeated their condemnation of government calls to boycott such an important democratic event while government members said such expensive alleged “wastes of time” should be made harder to hold, with the number of signatures required to get them approved doubled from 500,00 to a million.
While acknowledging defeat, the opposition however also noted that the number of voters who voted for the referenda was higher than the number of voters who voted Meloni into power in autumn 2022.
Centre-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein played down the failure of the referenda to reach a quorum by observing that over 14 million Italians had taken part in the vote, more than the 12 million who voted in the government two and a half years ago, and vowing to “talk about it again” in the next general election, where she voiced optimism the centre left could beat Meloni’s sitting centre right..
“The difference between us and Meloni’s Right is that today we are happy that over 14 million people went to vote, while they are rejoicing because the others didn’t,” said the leader of the largest opposition force.
“We’ll talk about it again in the next elections. They launched a real political and media boycott campaign of this vote but they have very little to celebrate: more voters voted for these referendums than those who voted for the Right, sending Meloni to government.
“When more people than those who voted for you ask you to change a law, you should think about it instead of mocking it”.
The leader of the second-biggest opposition group, 5-Star Movement (M5S) head Giuseppe Conte, said the government officials who are rejoicing over the failure of the referenda should instead show respect to the 15 million voters who turned out Sunday and Monday.
Conte, a former two-time premier, also pointed out that the 12 million voters who voted yes were the same number as those who had voted in Meloni.
“I read declarations and vulgar celebrations from political ‘fans’. Show respect to approximately 15 million citizens who went to vote. Show respect to the over 12 million who voted yes to greater protections in the world of work. We are talking about over 12 million citizens who, beyond political colors, ask for greater protection against dismissals, precarious employment and accidents at work. We will always be on their side, on the right side. And we will continue the battle for them in Parliament”, said Conte on social media, adding that “if these numbers seem insignificant to you, consider that it is the same number of voters (in fact, in the end, they could be even more) with which the Meloni majority came to government”.
The leader of the CGIL trade union that first proposed them, Maurizio Landini, said Italian democracy had been “gamed” by the government appeals.
He said that various government exponents had shown they did not know the content of the referenda.
Landini also said that the CGIL had asked for the referenda to be held together with local elections, which would have assured them a quorum.
Deputy Premier, Foreign Minister and centre-right post Berlusconi Forza Italia (FI) party leader Antonio Tajani said the opposition’s assault on the government had failed and the government had been strengthened- “First of all, great respect for those who went to vote because it is always a form of participation in the referendum,” Tajani told Tg1.
“Having said that, it was a defeat for the Left and the opposition that wanted to attempt an assault on the government using the crowbar of the referendums.
“It went badly, the government has been strengthened, the opposition has been weakened”.
If the voting had proven valid, there would have been whopping majorities of 80-90% in favour of the labour rights reforms, and a majority of about 60% in favour of the citizenship reform, the tallies showed. (ANSA).
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While the centre-left opposition blasted the government’s calls to snub the vote, government officials said the result had been a defeat for the opposition which had said the possible passage of the referenda would have sent an “eviction notice” to Giorgia Meloni’s executive.
The referenda, first proposed by Italy’s biggest and most leftwing trade union CGIL, sought to abolish a series of regulations, four regarding labour legislation, including three stemming from the 2016 Jobs Act liberalising the labour market, and one on the rules for non-EU citizens to gain Italian citizenship.
A yes to the citizenship vote would have halved the number of years of residence in Italy necessary for non-EU citizens to be eligible to apply for Italian citizenship from 10 to five.
Meloni went to her voting station on Sunday but did not pick up her ballot paper, as she had announced controversially ahead of the vote, meaning she was one of the many conservatives who did not contribute to the votes reaching quorum.
Government officials had strongly urged Italians to snub the vote and go to the beach instead- After the results came through, opposition officials repeated their condemnation of government calls to boycott such an important democratic event while government members said such expensive alleged “wastes of time” should be made harder to hold, with the number of signatures required to get them approved doubled from 500,00 to a million.
While acknowledging defeat, the opposition however also noted that the number of voters who voted for the referenda was higher than the number of voters who voted Meloni into power in autumn 2022.
Centre-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein played down the failure of the referenda to reach a quorum by observing that over 14 million Italians had taken part in the vote, more than the 12 million who voted in the government two and a half years ago, and vowing to “talk about it again” in the next general election, where she voiced optimism the centre left could beat Meloni’s sitting centre right..
“The difference between us and Meloni’s Right is that today we are happy that over 14 million people went to vote, while they are rejoicing because the others didn’t,” said the leader of the largest opposition force.
“We’ll talk about it again in the next elections. They launched a real political and media boycott campaign of this vote but they have very little to celebrate: more voters voted for these referendums than those who voted for the Right, sending Meloni to government.
“When more people than those who voted for you ask you to change a law, you should think about it instead of mocking it”.
The leader of the second-biggest opposition group, 5-Star Movement (M5S) head Giuseppe Conte, said the government officials who are rejoicing over the failure of the referenda should instead show respect to the 15 million voters who turned out Sunday and Monday.
Conte, a former two-time premier, also pointed out that the 12 million voters who voted yes were the same number as those who had voted in Meloni.
“I read declarations and vulgar celebrations from political ‘fans’. Show respect to approximately 15 million citizens who went to vote. Show respect to the over 12 million who voted yes to greater protections in the world of work. We are talking about over 12 million citizens who, beyond political colors, ask for greater protection against dismissals, precarious employment and accidents at work. We will always be on their side, on the right side. And we will continue the battle for them in Parliament”, said Conte on social media, adding that “if these numbers seem insignificant to you, consider that it is the same number of voters (in fact, in the end, they could be even more) with which the Meloni majority came to government”.
The leader of the CGIL trade union that first proposed them, Maurizio Landini, said Italian democracy had been “gamed” by the government appeals.
He said that various government exponents had shown they did not know the content of the referenda.
Landini also said that the CGIL had asked for the referenda to be held together with local elections, which would have assured them a quorum.
Deputy Premier, Foreign Minister and centre-right post Berlusconi Forza Italia (FI) party leader Antonio Tajani said the opposition’s assault on the government had failed and the government had been strengthened- “First of all, great respect for those who went to vote because it is always a form of participation in the referendum,” Tajani told Tg1.
“Having said that, it was a defeat for the Left and the opposition that wanted to attempt an assault on the government using the crowbar of the referendums.
“It went badly, the government has been strengthened, the opposition has been weakened”.
If the voting had proven valid, there would have been whopping majorities of 80-90% in favour of the labour rights reforms, and a majority of about 60% in favour of the citizenship reform, the tallies showed. (ANSA).
Read article…
