I know there was a referendum, and I know the PM resigned because of the results, but I can’t seem to find what the referendum was all about. Were things expected to go the way they did, or was it a bit of a shock?
Seek and ye shall find:
Italian PM Matteo Renzi resigns after referendum defeat | Matteo Renzi | The Guardian****
Thank you!
If I’m reading that correctly, the measure, if passed, would have decreased the power of local regions and strengthened the national-level government. How does that tie into left-right politics and nationalism?
There’s this Nationalist party, the Five Star Movement, led by comedian Peppe Grillo, who are the ones advocating for Italy’s exiting the Eurozone, and more or less the Italian equivalent to UKIP, although more left wing. They campaigned against the reform, and it counts as partially a success for them.
Regional sovereignty movements, especially in the north, seem to be Italy’s thing. The Northern League is all about getting somewhere between more power and complete independence for Italy’s northern regions.
It does not per se. The structure of the Italian parliamentary system makes it difficult for any party or alliance to maintain a decisive hold on power, so the government changes frequently, leading to inconsistency and uncertainty. Renzi proposed changing this, but could not get the parliamentary supermajority that was required for a constitutional change, hence the referendum. However, the referendum was not necessarily an abstract decision about whether the constitutional changes were a good idea, it’s was perhaps as much just about whether they think Renzi is the right guy to take the nation forward. The opposition to Renzi is more populist/nationalist and not keen on Europe, but they are not rabid right-wing nationalists. It’s possible some kind of referendum on the Euro or EU membership may follow, but it will be a long way down the road. This was a much more nuanced situation than the Brexit vote, and it’s not even yet clear that the Italian population would necessarily support leaving the Euro or Europe, or what form any such departure might take.
For what I’ve read, the Italian Constitution doesn’t allow for referendums about international relations. A party or coalition of parties willing to leave the EU should win parliamentary and Senate majority for either situation to happen.