‘No’ leads Italy referendum in rebuke to Meloni: early results

ROME: Italians appear to have voted against a referendum on justice proposed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in what would be a major blow for the far-right leader, early results showed Monday (Mar 23).

With the ballots from more than a quarter of polling stations counted, the “No” vote in the constitutional referendum was ahead with more than 54 per cent.

Defeat over the controversial referendum would amount to a major setback for Meloni, who has led an uncharacteristically stable coalition government since Oct 2022 and faces parliamentary elections next year.

“If this is the result, and that seems likely, that’s a bad, bad result. It means she has lost the Italian electorate on a major issue in her manifesto, and one of the key proposals of the right … for the past 30 years,” Daniele Albertazzi, professor of politics at the UK’s University of Surrey told AFP.

“The next general election is not far now, and if the centre-left gets its act together, this is going to help them. Because it means that her image as unbeatable is not there any more.”

Opposition parties campaigned for “No”.

The referendum, voted Sunday and Monday, sought to separate the role of judges and prosecutors and change their oversight body in what the government cast as necessary measures to ensure impartiality in the courts.

The structural changes envisioned under the reform provoked accusations from the opposition that the government hoped to exert more control over independent judges, whose decisions they have often publicly attacked.