Italian referendum proposals to ease citizenship laws and tighten job protection rules failed on Monday due to low voter turnout, reports France24, citing a YouTrend polling agency. Official data from about half of the polling stations showed slightly less than 30% of eligible voters had cast their ballots at the end of two days of voting, far short of the 50% plus one of the electorate needed to make the vote legally binding.
There were five referendums in total including one on reducing the period of residence required to apply for Italian citizenship by naturalisation to five years from 10 years.
The other four referendum questions concerned a reversal of labour market liberalisations introduced a decade ago, and a broadening of liability rules on accidents at work for companies relying on contractors and subcontractors.
The outcome is a blow for the coalition of centre-left opposition parties, civil society groups and the CGIL trade union behind the referendum questions, and a win for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who strongly opposed them. Meloni and her right-wing allies encouraged their supporters to boycott the vote.
Opposition forces had hoped that latching on to the issues of labour rights and Italy’s demographic woes could help them challenge Meloni, something they have struggled to do since she came to power in 2022.
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