
Italian referendums on citizenship, labour law fail over low turnout
dpa
Rome
A series of referendums on immigration and labour law have failed in Italy after turnout fell far short of the required 50% of the eligible population after two days of voting, in a win for right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Preliminary figures from the Interior Ministry showed that only 29% of voters had cast a ballot by the time polling station closed at 3pm (1300 GMT) on Monday.
The referendums focused heavily on labour law, with votes on better protection against dismissal, higher severance payments, the abolition of fixed-term contracts and liability in the event of accidents at work. The fifth issue involved deciding whether people from countries outside the EU could be granted citizenship after five years. Currently, this takes at least 10 years.
The final results will only be published after the end of the count. According to preliminary figures, there were clear majorities in favour of the measures, but they will not pass due to the low turnout.
The failure was widely expected after only 22% of voters participated in the election on Sunday, when voting was open until 11pm.
Of the 78 referendums held in Italy since the end of World War II, many have failed due to low turnout. The latest vote was initiated by trade unions and the left-wing opposition.
The right-wing coalition government under Prime Minister Meloni advised its supporters not to participate. Meloni herself went to her polling station but did not cast her vote.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Qatar Tribune
8 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Ukraine, Russia exchange second group of POWs
Kiev/Moscow: Ukraine and Russia exchanged a second group of prisoners of war on Tuesday under an agreement reached in Istanbul earlier this month. The group of Ukrainian prisoners consisted of seriously ill and severely injured soldiers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram. They will all receive immediate medical assistance, he said. Among them were members of the army, the National Guard, transport services and border guards, according to Zelensky. The Defence Ministry in Moscow confirmed that the exchange had taken place at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. The Russian soldiers will be taken to Russia after a medical examination, the ministry said in a statement. Ukraine and Russia exchanged a first group of prisoners of war on Monday. (DPA)


Qatar Tribune
8 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Zelensky calls Orbán's support for Russia a ‘historic mistake'
dpa Budapest Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the anti-Ukraine policies and messaging of right-wing populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as an 'historic mistake.' In an interview with the Hungarian outlet Válasz Online published on Tuesday, Zelensky accused Orbán of using propaganda against Ukraine to seek a domestic political advantage. 'He is using Ukraine for his own electoral purposes,' the Ukrainian president said. 'He does not understand that this will have much more serious and dangerous consequences. By not helping us, he is doing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin a favour. That is why I said that Viktor is making a serious, historic mistake.' For weeks, Orbán's government has been running a billboard campaign against aid for Ukraine and opposing the country's accession to the European Union. The campaign's main message is that aid for Ukraine would drag Hungary into war and damage the economy.


Qatar Tribune
8 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Sunshine and shadows: Greece's renewable energy challenge
Agencies In a field in central Greece that once grew clover and corn, maintenance worker Nikos Zigomitros deftly drives a tractor between rows of solar panels, trimming weeds under a blazing sun. 'Letting them grow too high impairs the panel performance,' the 52-year-old explains, wiping sweat from his brow. Once a centre of agricultural production, the area around Kastron Viotias, some 110 kilometers northwest of Athens, has seen solar parks mushroom over the past 15 years, part of a major renewable energy push in the country. Greece currently has 16 gigawatts of renewable energy installed, with solar power representing nearly 10 gigawatts, including 2.5 gigawatts that came on line last year. The rapid growth of solar is similar to other countries in Europe, where it has overtaken coal for electricity production, according to climate think tank Ember. It estimates renewables have risen to account for nearly half of the EU's electricity production. Greece did even better: 55 percent of annual consumption was covered by renewables last year, with solar accounting for around 23 percent, according to SPEF, an association which unites local solar power producers. In 2023, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis predicted that Greece would 'soon generate 80 percent of its electricity needs through renewables.' But getting there is proving complicated. SPEF chairman Stelios Loumakis said that the solar sector has hit a wall because of a combination of factors, including Greece's small size, limited infrastructure and delays in building up energy storage capacity. The Greek state approved too many photovoltaic projects over the last five years and the market is saturated, leading to a 'severe production surplus' on sunny days, the 56-year-old chemical engineer and energy consultant said. Greece's national grid operator in May repeatedly ordered thousands of medium-sized operators to shut down during the sunniest hours of the day to avoid overburdening the network and triggering a blackout. 'The trick is to balance supply and demand. If you don't do it well, you get a blackout,' said Nikos Mantzaris, a senior policy analyst and partner at the independent civil organisation Green Tank. In April, a huge blackout of unknown origin crippled the Iberian Peninsula. The Spanish government has said two major power fluctuations were recorded in the half-hour before the grid collapse, but the government insisted renewables were not to blame. 'It could be something as mundane as a faulty cable,' Mantzaris said. To manage the surplus, Greece is building battery storage capacity. But catching up to its solar electricity production will take years. 'The next three years will be crucial,' said Stelios Psomas, a policy advisor at HELAPCO, a trade association for Greek companies producing and installing solar panels. In the meantime, solar panel operators will have to ensure production does not outstrip capacity, thereby limiting their potential earnings. 'Managing high shares of renewables - especially solar - requires significant flexibility and storage solutions,' said Francesca Andreolli, a senior researcher at ECCO, a climate change think tank in Italy, which faces a similar problem. 'Battery capacity has become a structural necessity for the electricity system, by absorbing excess renewable energy and releasing it when demand rises,' she told AFP. Mimis Tsakanikas, a 51-year-old farmer in Kastron, readily admits that solar has been good to his family. The photovoltaic farm they built in 2012 at a cost of 210,000 euros clears at least 55,000 euros a year.