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Japan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Italy holds referendum on citizenship and workers' rights
Italians began two days of voting Sunday in a referendum on easing citizenship rules and strengthening labor laws, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government opposed to both and urging people to abstain. The five proposals on the ballot were not expected to pass, in light of low turnout and the requirement that over 50% of voters participate to validate the referendum. Currently, a non-EU adult resident without marriage or blood ties to Italy must live in the country for 10 years before they can apply for citizenship — a process which can then take years more. The referendum proposal, triggered by a grassroots campaign led by NGOs, would cut this to five years, putting Italy in line with Germany and France. Campaigners say around 2.5 million people could benefit from the reform, which is being backed by the center-left Democratic Party. Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party has prioritized cutting irregular immigration even as her government has increased the number of migrant work visas, is strongly against it. She said on Thursday that the current system "is an excellent law, among the most open, in the sense that we have for years been among the European nations that grant the highest number of citizenships each year." Low initial turnout More than 213,500 people acquired Italian citizenship in 2023, double the number from 2020 and accounting for one-fifth of the total number of naturalizations in EU countries, according to the bloc's statistics. More than 90% were from outside the bloc, mostly from Albania and Morocco, as well as Argentina and Brazil — two countries with large Italian immigrant communities. Ministers agreed in March to restrict the rights to citizenship of those claiming blood ties to Italy from four to two generations. Meloni and her coalition partners encouraged voters to boycott the referendum, which would invalidate it if it fails to clear the 50%-of-eligible-voters turnout threshold. As of 7 p.m. Sunday, national participation was at 15.8%, according to the interior ministry. Voting was to continue through to Monday afternoon. Casting a ballot for the first time in his life at a Rome polling station was Giovanni Puccini, 18, who called Meloni's instruction to abstain "disrespectful" of past sacrifices by Italians. "You have to vote because in the past so many people fought, even died, for this right," he said. His friend Pierre Donadio, 21, said less stringent citizenship laws were needed in the country, to boost diversity and prevent it "being too closed up in itself." Even if it passed, the reform would not affect a migration law many consider unfair: that children born in Italy to foreign parents cannot request nationality until they reach 18. Prominent rapper Ghali, who was born in Milan to Tunisian parents, has been outspoken in advocating a change to the law for children. He urged fans to back Sunday's vote as a step in the right direction. "With a 'Yes' we ask that five years of life here are enough, not 10, to be part of this country," he wrote on Instagram. Interests of workers The ballot includes one question on citizenship. The four others are on increasing protections for workers who are dismissed, in precarious situations or involved in workplace accidents. Those changes were being pushed by the left-wing CGIL trade union. "We want to reverse a culture that has prioritized the interests of business over those of workers," said CGIL general secretary Maurizio Landini. The center-left Democratic Party is also backing the proposals — even though it introduced some of the laws while in office in the past. The proposals took aim at measures in a so-called Jobs Act, passed a decade ago by the government of the Democratic Party prime minister, Matteo Renzi, in order to liberalize the labor market. Supporters say the act boosted employment but detractors say it made work more precarious. Under new leadership, the Democratic Party — which is polling behind Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy — is seeking to woo working-class voters by backing the referendum reform.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Italy's citizenship referendum: What's at stake?
The fate of millions of immigrants is at stake as Italians vote in a two-day referendum that proposes to speed up the process of acquiring citizenship for foreigners who legally entered the country. The referendum also seeks to roll back labour reforms to provide enhanced job protections. Polling stations opened on Sunday at 7am local time (05:00 GMT), with results expected after polls close on Monday at 3pm (13:00 GMT). The measures – backed by opposition parties, labour unions and social activists – are aimed at revising citizenship laws to help second-generation Italians born in the country, to non-European Union parents, integrate more easily. However, the vote may fail to generate sufficient turnout to be deemed valid – a turnout of more than 50 percent is required for a referendum to be legally binding. Ahead of this weekend's vote, the citizenship issue has garnered plenty of attention in a nation where concerns over the scale of immigration helped propel right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's anti-migration coalition to power in late 2022. Immigration has emerged as a key issue, particularly in Western Europe as well as the United States under President Donald Trump. So, what does the referendum propose, and what does it mean for immigrants whose lives are in limbo due to the slow process of naturalisation in the EU member nation? The question on the ballot paper asks Italians if they back reducing the period of residence required to apply for Italian citizenship, by naturalisation, from 10 years to five. The change proposed by the referendum would allow nearly 1.5 million foreigners to obtain citizenship immediately, according to an estimate by Idos, an Italian research centre. That would include nearly 300,000 minors, who would obtain citizenship if their parents did. About half of Italy's 5.4 million foreign residents could be eligible to apply for citizenship if the vote is passed. The vote comes as Meloni has tightened citizenship laws, making it hard for resident immigrants to obtain nationality. Currently, immigrants from countries outside the EU can apply for citizenship only after 10 years of uninterrupted residency in Italy. What is more, the children of lawful immigrants can apply for passports only once they have turned 18 and if they have continuously lived in the country since birth. On the other hand, generous bloodline laws allowed people of Italian descent, even if remote, to obtain citizenship, helping maintain a link with the diaspora. Between 2016 and 2023, for instance, Italy granted citizenship to more than 98,300 people, mostly living in Latin America, based on their claims of Italian ancestry. With Italy's birthrate in sharp decline, economists say the country needs to attract more foreigners to boost its anaemic economy. Francesco Galietti, from political risk firm Policy Sonar, told the Reuters news agency that keeping such rules tight was 'an identity issue' for Meloni, but she was also being pushed by businesses to open up the borders of an ageing country to foreign workers. 'On the one hand, there is the cultural identity rhetoric, but on the other, there are potential problems paying pensions and an economy that relies on manufacturing, which needs workers,' Galietti said. For context, Italy's constitution allows citizens to repeal laws through referendums, part of the system of checks and balances devised after Benito Mussolini's fascist rule in the 1940s. The referendum seeks to make it harder to fire workers and increase compensation for those laid off by small businesses, reversing a previous law passed by a centre-left government a decade ago. One of the questions on the ballot also addresses the urgent issue of security at work, restoring joint liability to both contractors and subcontractors for workplace injuries. Campaigners gathered more than 4.5 million signatures, according to the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) union, far more than needed to trigger the referendum, which will comprise five questions – four on the labour market and one on citizenship. 'We want to reverse a culture that has prioritised the interests of business over those of workers,' CGIL general secretary Maurizio Landini told the AFP news agency. The referendum was promoted by a coalition of relatively small political parties – More Europe, Possibile, the Italian Socialist Party, the Italian Radicals and the Communist Refoundation Party – and numerous civil society associations. It is also being backed by the centre-left Democratic Party, which is jockeying for Italian citizenship laws to be more aligned with EU-wide standards. Research shows that access to citizenship has positive causal effects. Immigrants who naturalise experience lower unemployment rates, earn higher incomes and are less likely to be overqualified for their jobs. By contrast, protracted waiting periods for naturalisation delay or dampen these effects. These findings support the claim that naturalisation is not only a reward, but also an important catalyst for integration. The majority of Italians think that citizenship accelerates the integration process as well. The last Eurobarometer on the integration of immigrants reports that 87 percent of Italians believe that acquiring citizenship is an important factor for the successful integration of immigrants in Italy. Even if it passes, however, the reform will not affect the law many consider deeply unfair – that children born in Italy to foreign parents cannot request nationality until they reach 18. Opposition left-wing and centrist parties, civil society groups and a leading trade union have latched on to the issues of labour rights and Italy's demographic woes as a way of challenging Meloni's right-wing coalition government. Meloni has said she would show up at the polls but not cast a ballot – a move widely criticised by the left as antidemocratic, since it will not help reach the necessary threshold to make the vote valid. Activists and opposition parties have denounced the lack of public debate on the measures, accusing the governing centre-right coalition of trying to dampen interest in sensitive issues that directly affect immigrants and workers. A Demopolis institute poll last month estimated turnout would be in the range of 31-39 percent among Italy's roughly 50 million electors, well short of the required threshold. Leaders of two of the governing coalition's right-wing parties, Antonio Tajani of Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini of the League, have opposed the vote. The referendum is 'dangerous' and would extend access to citizenship 'indiscriminately', Salvini, Italy's deputy prime minister, said in May. Supporters say this reform would bring Italy's citizenship law in line with many other European countries, promoting greater social integration for long-term residents. It would also allow faster access to civil and political rights, such as the right to vote, eligibility for public employment and freedom of movement within the EU. Italy is also confronting one of Europe's most acute demographic crises. Its population is ageing rapidly, with about a quarter of Italians aged above 65 years and just 12 percent aged 14 or younger. The referendum could ease some of these pressures.
