Referendum defeat leaves PM Meloni vulnerable

(Patria) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has lost a key referendum on constitutional reform that turned into a vote on her government. The stance Meloni supported received 46% of the vote, writes the BBC.

In a video posted on social media even before all ballots were counted, Meloni said Italians had voted "with clarity" and that she would respect their decision, but regretted the "lost opportunity to modernise" the country.

It is the first significant defeat for Meloni and her right-wing coalition, which has enjoyed a rare period of political stability for Italy. Opposition parties hail the result as a sign that voters are looking for change, with general elections due next year.

When the two-day referendum closed yesterday afternoon, exit polls showed "No" votes leading by a small margin, but this grew into a significant lead as votes were counted.

Despite the complex question on the ballot paper, turnout was almost sixty percent. The high figure was expected to support the government, but it was not enough to turn the result around.

The reform rejected by voters would have introduced a clear division between judges and prosecutors in the constitution. It also proposed the creation of separate bodies to manage them and a new disciplinary court.

The government argued the change was key to improving judicial independence, while the opposition claimed it would destroy the balance of power established after the defeat of fascism and increase political influence over the courts.

Many Italians struggled to understand the technical details, perhaps a communication failure by the prime minister's team, and the vote quickly turned into a plebiscite on her near-record three-and-a-half years in power.

Meloni is a close ally of Donald Trump, but the US president is increasingly unpopular in Italy, as is his war in the Middle East. With the Italian economy already stagnating, many people are worried about the impact of the war on their energy costs.
Meloni has always ruled out resigning, regardless of the result, unlike Matteo Renzi in 2016 who, as prime minister, called his own constitutional referendum and lost.

"The vote is not about me, but about justice," Meloni argued before this vote.

After the result became clear, Renzi advised that her government had now lost its "magic touch" and needed to listen more carefully to voters.

"Losing and leaving with a whistle is simply not an option," he told Italian radio.

Had Meloni won, she would likely have felt emboldened to pursue other political ambitions, including a reform to introduce direct elections for the prime minister.

Instead, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, said Meloni's defeat showed that "there is an alternative to this government" ahead of next year's general election.
This loss has slightly tarnished the coalition's shine, and Meloni herself, long the strong woman of Italian politics, has looked more vulnerable.