Power of the vote - Italy may change nationality law

Italians are being called to vote this weekend in a referendum on granting faster citizenship, as well as on several labour law tweaks that unions say will boost workers’ protection.

But analysts predict voter turnout will be too low for the results to count, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition — which opposes the changes — has urged people to avoid the polls, writes Amy Kazmin.

Context: Italy’s postwar constitution allows citizens to repeal laws through referendums, part of the elaborate system of checks and balances devised after Benito Mussolini’s fascist rule. For results to be binding, more than 50 per cent of eligible voters must cast ballots.

In the vote on Sunday and Monday, citizens are being asked to repeal a 1992 law that doubled how long people must wait to apply for Italian citizenship. If revoked, people could seek naturalisation after just five years in Italy instead of ten. Other proposed labour law changes are being hailed by unions as strengthening workers’ rights.

Meloni’s right-wing coalition has been criticised for urging voters to abstain and refusing to engage in debates on the proposals, which have received scant media coverage.

“Many people don’t know about it. There is a lack of information,” said Roberto D’Alimonte, a political scientist at Rome’s Luiss University. “It’s a strategic decision. If you are against repealing the laws, it is better to tell your voters not to turn out to vote, rather than to turn out and vote no.”

Historically, some Italian referendums have had a high turnout — and a decisive impact.

In 1946, a majority of Italians voted to abolish the monarchy and turn the country into a republic.

In a 1974 referendum on divorce, legalised for the first time just three years earlier, nearly 60 per cent of Italians voted in favour — a shocking blow to conservative divorce opponents who wanted the law repealed.

Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s dream of restarting nuclear power was thwarted by a referendum in which citizens voted overwhelmingly to repeal new laws permitting nuclear power plants to operate.

Even if the turnout this time is low, D’Alimonte believes referendums will remain important political tools. “People don't use it unless there is something very, very relevant,” he said.