Defending Italy’s citizenship laws as “excellent and also very inclusive,” Meloni said on June 5 that she was “completely against” the proposed changes.
Italian public media and government politicians broadly ignored the referendum, with junior Meloni coalition member Forza Italia posting a picture on X of a swimming pool, sandals and sunglasses, saying “sorry if we didn’t post anything today, we were all at the beach.”
The public was asked to vote on five issues, four of which concerned labor rights and garnered more than 85 percent support.
The vote on the immigration question was closer, with around 65 percent of voters backing the change. It sought to reduce the amount of time non-Italians have to live in Italy before being able to apply for citizenship from 10 to five years.
The change, which would have affected some 2.5 million foreign nationals, was an attempt to relieve the country’s profound demographic problems. Italy has the oldest population in the EU (median age 48.4 years) and the smallest share of children under 15 (12.4 percent).
Maurizio Landini, general secretary of the Italian General Confederation of Labour union, said the low turnout was evidence of a “clear democratic crisis” in Italy, conceding: “We knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park.”
