Low voter participation on Monday led to the failure of Italian opposition referendum initiatives aimed at loosening citizenship laws and strengthening job protection measures.
Key members of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition stated that the result was a victory for the government.
Preliminary data from Italian polling stations indicated that only about 30% of eligible voters took part by the close of the two-day voting period, well below the required threshold of over 50% to validate the referendum.
The result, which will become official after votes from Italians living abroad are tallied, is a setback for the coalition of centre-left opposition parties, civil society organisations, and the CGIL trade union that supported the referendum proposals. Conversely, it is a victory for Meloni, who firmly opposed them, Reuters reports.
“The opposition wanted to turn the referendum into a vote on the Meloni government. The response is very clear: the government emerges from this stronger and the left is weaker,” according to Giovanbattista Fazzolari, a cabinet undersecretary and a close aide to the PM.
Meloni and her right-wing coalition urged their base to abstain from voting. Although the prime minister made an appearance at a polling station in Rome on Sunday, she chose not to vote.
Meanwhile, the opposition had pinned its hopes on mobilising support around labour rights and Italy’s demographic challenges, aiming to mount a serious challenge to Meloni, an effort that has largely faltered since she assumed office in 2022.
“Our goal was to reach a quorum, it is clear that we did not reach it. Today is not a day of victory,” stated CGIL union leader Maurizio Landini.
One of the five referendums proposed cutting the residency requirement for applying for Italian citizenship through naturalisation from 10 years to five, a change that organisers estimated would impact around 2.5 million people.
In a nation facing a steep drop in birth rates, some economists argue that welcoming more immigrants is crucial to revitalising the struggling economy, while human rights groups advocated for a “Yes” vote to support the integration of migrant workers.
According to preliminary data, about 35% of voters opposed easing the citizenship requirements, suggesting the “No” vote might be significantly higher than in the other questions, where the “Yes” appeared set to achieve a strong majority
The other four referendum proposals focused on reversing labour market deregulations implemented 10 years ago and expanding liability rules for workplace accidents to include companies that use contractors and subcontractors.