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Local Italy
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Local Italy
Inside Italy: Why government silence is bad news ahead of Italy's citizenship referendum
Inside Italy is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip from Italy that you might not have heard about. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article. Italian citizenship has been a heavily discussed topic in national media outlets and TV talk shows in recent weeks after the Italian Constitutional Court approved a landmark referendum on easing citizenship by residency rules. The referendum, which is set to take place on an as-yet-unspecified Sunday between April 15th and June 15th, will ask Italians to decide on whether or not to create a quicker path to naturalisation by cutting the current 10-year wait time down to five years. This would bring Italy – which is often regarded as having one of the toughest naturalisation systems in Europe – in line with countries such as the UK, France and Germany. But while a broad centre-left coalition including the Partito Democratico (PD), Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra (AVS), Italia Viva and +Europa has recently begun to run a joint campaign in support of the proposed citizenship reform, the ruling hard-right coalition has largely avoided any public mention of the referendum in recent weeks. Granted, right-wing leaders including PM Giorgia Meloni clearly expressed their opposition to changing current citizenship rules after referendum campaigners secured the signatures needed to qualify for a national vote last September. But ever since Italy's highest court greenlighted the vote in late January, the forces making up the ruling bloc (Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia, Deputy PM Matteo Salvini's Lega and Antonio Tajani's Forza Italia) have hardly ever touched on the issue in interviews with media or in parliament – and that may well be by design. Earlier this week, we reported on how the proposed citizenship reform faces two major hurdles, with the first one being the so-called quorum (or 'threshold'). As is the case with all abrogative referendums in Italy, voter turnout will need to exceed 50 percent for the vote's result to be valid. This means that, out of around 51 million eligible voters, over 25.5 million will need to take part in the vote. If this quorum is not met, the referendum won't be valid, whatever its result may be. Avoiding (or minimising) public discourse has long been one of the most common political strategies in Italy to keep referendums from reaching the quorum. In other words, rather than actively campaigning 'against' a certain proposal, parties choose to sidestep the issue altogether, discouraging participation in the vote in a bid to ensure that it doesn't reach the required turnout. This tactic is often seen by political commentators as partly responsible for the low number of successful referendums held in Italy since the birth of the Republic (only 39 of 77 votes have reached the quorum over the past 50 years). Over the years, many campaign groups and political experts have called for the repeal of the quorum requirement, asking that referendums' results be taken as valid regardless of voter turnout. None have been successful so far. So what does it all mean for the citizenship referendum? It means that the campaign run by the centre-left coalition will have to 'drown out' the silence of the ruling bloc in order to give the proposed citizenship reform a chance of passing at least the first hurdle – namely the quorum. Some Italian media reports in recent weeks have said that a miracolo (miracle) is needed for the referendum to reach the required voter turnout. Plenty of religious miracoli have taken place in Italy over the centuries, at least according to Catholic tradition. Hopefully, we'll be getting a slightly more secular miracle this spring.
Euronews
14-02-2025
- Health
- Euronews
Tuscany becomes Italy's first region to approve assisted suicide for people with incurable illnesses
Tuscany has approved a bill regulating medically assisted suicide, becoming Italy's first region to enact a right-to-die law. The law requires a medical and ethics commission to consider an end-of-life request for no more than 30 days. If approved, the regional health services must provide the necessary medication and a doctor within 10 days. All medical personnel have the right to opt-out. The law passed by a vote of 27-13 in the central Italian region governed by the centre-left. 'The law does nothing more than provide objective procedures and clarity,'' the regional governor, Eugenio Giani, said before the vote. 'I feel that we are giving a national message'. The Italian Constitutional Court ruled in 2019 that assisted suicide was legal for patients affected by an irreversible pathology with intolerable physical and psychological pain. They must be capable of making a free and conscious decision. Despite the high court ruling, the Italian parliament has not passed national right-to-die legislation. The law in Tuscany could face a constitutional challenge if Premier Giorgia Meloni's far-right-led government, which is broadly opposed to euthanasia, deems that the region has overstepped its powers. Only a few countries in Europe allow assisted suicide, though others, such as the United Kingdom, are debating their own policies.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Tuscany becomes the first region to approve assisted suicide in Roman Catholic Italy
MILAN (AP) — Tuscany approved a bill regulating medically assisted suicide Tuesday, becoming Italy's first region to approve a right-to-die law in the Roman Catholic country after the constitutional court effectively legalized the procedure in 2019. The law requires a medical and ethics commission to consider an end-of-life request for no more than 30 days. If approved, the regional health services must provide the necessary medication and a doctor within 10 days. All medical personnel have the right to opt out. The law passed by a vote of 27-13 in the central Italian region governed by the center-left. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. 'The law does nothing more than provide objective procedures and clarity,'' the regional governor, Eugenio Giani, said before the vote. 'I feel that we are giving a national message.' The Italian Constitutional Court ruled in 2019 that assisted suicide was legal for patients affected by an irreversible pathology with intolerable physical and psychological pain. They must be capable of making a free and conscious decision. Despite the high court ruling, the Italian parliament has not passed national right-to-die legislation. The law in Tuscany could face a constitutional challenge if Premier Giorgia Meloni's far-right-led government, which is broadly opposed to euthanasia, deems that the region has overstepped its powers.
Associated Press
11-02-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Tuscany becomes the first region to approve assisted suicide in Roman Catholic Italy
MILAN (AP) — Tuscany approved a bill regulating medically assisted suicide Tuesday, becoming Italy's first region to approve a right-to-die law in the Roman Catholic country after the constitutional court effectively legalized the procedure in 2019. The law requires a medical and ethics commission to consider an end-of-life request for no more than 30 days. If approved, the regional health services must provide the necessary medication and a doctor within 10 days. All medical personnel have the right to opt out. The law passed by a vote of 27-13 in the central Italian region governed by the center-left. 'The law does nothing more than provide objective procedures and clarity,'' the regional governor, Eugenio Giani, said before the vote. 'I feel that we are giving a national message.' The Italian Constitutional Court ruled in 2019 that assisted suicide was legal for patients affected by an irreversible pathology with intolerable physical and psychological pain. They must be capable of making a free and conscious decision. Despite the high court ruling, the Italian parliament has not passed national right-to-die legislation. The law in Tuscany could face a constitutional challenge if Premier Giorgia Meloni's far-right-led government, which is broadly opposed to euthanasia, deems that the region has overstepped its powers.
Local Italy
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Local Italy
What are the chances of Italy voting in favour of easing citizenship rules?
Italy will soon hold a landmark referendum on easing citizenship by residency rules after the proposal was approved by the Italian Constitutional Court in a historic ruling in late January. The referendum will ask Italians to decide on whether or not to create a quicker path to naturalisation by cutting the current 10-year wait time down to five years. Though the exact referendum date hasn't been announced yet, under Italian law, the vote will have to take place on a Sunday between April 15th and June 15th. With the vote fast approaching, readers of The Local have recently asked us what exactly is needed for the reform to pass and what are the chances that this will ultimately happen. What's needed for the reform to pass? The upcoming vote on easing citizenship rules is an abrogative referendum, meaning that it seeks to repeal an existing law or part of it – in this case, letter F of article 9, Law 91, 1992. As is the case with all abrogative referendums in Italy, voter turnout will need to exceed 50 percent for its result to be valid. In other words, the result will only be accepted if the majority of all eligible voters cast their ballots. If this 'quorum' (or threshold) is not met, the referendum won't be valid, whatever the result may be. If the quorum is met, the proposed citizenship reform will pass if the majority (over 50 percent) of votes cast are in favour of it. Reaching the quorum This will be the first of two major hurdles faced by the proposed citizenship reform. Out of around 51 million eligible voters (including 4.7 million Italians residing abroad), over 25.5 million people will need to take part in the vote for its result to be considered valid. It's currently hard to make predictions as to whether or not the referendum will meet the required threshold. Some Italian news reports see this as difficult given that voter turnout for abrogative referendums has historically been low. According to Il Post, over the past 50 years, Italians have been called to vote in 77 abrogative referendums. Of those, only 39 reached the quorum. Furthermore, of the 39 referendums that did meet the required voter turnout, 35 took place between 1974 and 1995. The latest abrogative referendum was held in June 2022 and saw a 20.9-percent voter turnout. Does this mean that the referendum has no chance of reaching the required turnout? Not really. The overall decline in voter turnout in referendums held over the past three decades has been frequently attributed by political commentators to their questions being on issues of little interest to the general public (e.g., the judicial system, the careers of magistrates and journalists, and the installation of electrical conduits on private land) or on topics where it was extremely difficult for many people to form an informed opinion (for instance, assisted reproduction). These considerations don't seem to apply to the upcoming vote, as the potential relaxation of some citizenship rules and eligibility criteria has been a heavily discussed topic in recent years. Furthermore, the citizenship referendum poses a relatively straightforward question: whether or not to cut the existing residency requirement down to five years (from 10). The plain nature of the question may result in a higher number of voters forming an opinion about the topic and choosing to have their say in the matter. All in all, a 'miracle' would still be needed to reach the quorum, according to L'Espresso political reporter Franco Corleone. But a miracle remains 'possible' and it 'can be achieved by reigniting passion in confronting a dangerously deep crisis in politics and democracy,' he says. Let's assume the threshold is met. What happens then? If the quorum is met, the citizenship reform will pass if the majority (over 50 percent) of votes cast are in favour of it. But what are the chances of this happening? We're entering pure speculation territory here, as there aren't yet any polls or surveys that can give us an idea of how Italians feel about the potential easing of citizenship rules. That said, a brief look at where the main Italian parties stand on the matter can help us in our analysis. So far, a broad centre-left coalition including the Partito Democratico (PD), Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra (AVS), Italia Viva and +Europa, has backed the reform. On the other hand, the centrist Azione has opposed the proposed changes, with party leader Carlo Calenda claiming to hold 'a different view' regarding citizenship. The populist Movimento 5 Stelle headed by Giuseppe Conte has also refrained from publicly supporting the reform, though one of its MPs signed the original referendum campaign back in September. As for the right-wing ruling coalition, PM Giorgia Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia party, Matteo Salvini's Lega and Antonio Tajani's Forza Italia have all opposed the easing of citizenship rules. PM Meloni openly criticised the proposed reform, saying that she didn't 'see the need for a change' and considered the ten-year period 'appropriate'. 'I think Italy has excellent citizenship laws. I believe this is demonstrated by the fact that we are among the European nations that grant the highest number of citizenships to foreigners,' she added. Where does this leave us? According to the latest Ipsos polls on voting intentions, the ruling coalition (Fratelli d'Italia, Lega and Forza Italia) enjoys the support of around 45 percent of voters. By contrast, the centre-left coalition backing the reform (Partito Democratico, Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra, Italia Viva and +Europa) is backed by around 32 percent of voters. On paper, the centre-left coalition doesn't currently have the numbers to overcome the united right-wing front. However, two key considerations must be made at this point. Firstly, Giuseppe Conte's M5S, which has the support of 12.5 percent of voters, hasn't yet made its intentions clear regarding the referendum. Should the party back the reform, the opposition's chances of defeating the ruling coalition may increase significantly. Secondly, referendums are quite different from general elections. While in general elections voters are asked to elect the country's government – and the main social, political and economic policies – for the following five years, in referendums they're asked to have their say in a specific matter (usually expressed in the form of a single question), which is usually of lesser perceived relevance and impact. That is to say that, while people generally back the party they feel most closely associated with in general elections, it's far more likely for voters to stray away from their party's official stance in referendums. So, as influential as parties' stance on the citizenship reform may be, the ultimate decision will come down to every single voter, and specifically on whether or not they want to make the path to naturalisation quicker.
