Italians reject massive changes to constitution

Italians have soundly rejected massive changes to the country’s post-war constitution that proponents had argued would increase political stability and modernise the country.

The results at the end of the two-day vote marked a victory for the centre-left government of Romano Prodi, who had said change was necessary but opposed the reforms as giving too much power to the executive. Final results showed that 61.7% voted against the reforms, while 38.3% approved them.

“It is now our duty to begin a dialogue with all the political forces to discuss updates that must be made to the constitution,” Prodi said.

Former conservative Premier Silvio Berlusconi, whose government devised the reforms, had urged citizens to approve the changes to strengthen the premier’s powers, transfer some authority away from Rome to the country’s regions and reduce the number of MPs.

“Italians are disgusting and Italy is disgusting – because it doesn’t want to be modern,” Francesco Speroni, a deputy in the European Parliament and member of the far-right Northern League party, was quoted by the online daily Affaritaliani.it.

The Northern League, a member of Berlusconi’s coalition and a party known for its federal vision, had designed the reforms.

Nearly 54% of the 43 million eligible voters cast ballots in the referendum, according to the interior ministry. No minimum turnout was required for the reforms to be approved.

Some of the measures were aimed at fostering political stability in a country that has had 61 governments since 1945, others aimed at speeding up the passage of legislation.

The referendum demanded only a vote for or against, but the changes would have altered more than 50 of the 139 constitutional articles, representing the biggest change ever made to the document, enacted in 1948.

The reforms would have allowed the premier to dissolve parliament, a power now in the hands of the republic’s president. The premier also would have had the power to appoint and fire Cabinet members, decisions that the president currently must approve.

Other measures, some of which would not have taken effect for years, included transferring some authority over health, education and security from the central government to the nation’s 20 regions.

For some, the proposed reforms represented a chance to modernise an antiquated constitution that limits the premier’s powers more than other Western governments, reflecting the country’s fear of dictatorship after Benito Mussolini’s Fascist wartime regime.