Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi suffered a humiliating defeat yesterday in opposition-backed referendums to block nuclear power and abolish a law intended to give him legal immunity.
It was the embattled Premier’s second blow in less than a month after his People of Freedom party lost critical mayoral votes in Milan and Naples and even Berlusconi supporters were saying something needed to change quickly.
“The high turnout in the referendums shows a will on the part of citizens to participate in decisions about our future that cannot be ignored,” Mr Berlusconi said, after official data showed 57 per cent of voters had taken part.
Turnout was of crucial importance since the referendums required participation of more than 50 per cent in order to have legal force.
“The will of Italians is clear on all the subjects of this consultation. The government and Parliament must now respond fully,” Mr Berlusconi said.
Available data showed crushing votes of more than 90 per cent against the government in the four referendum questions – one on nuclear, one on the immunity law and two on water privatisation.
The vote against government plans to resume a nuclear programme reflects popular unease about atomic energy in Europe after the Fukushima disaster in Japan and is likely to set back any prospects of nuclear power in Italy for decades.
Italy abandoned atomic energy with a referendum in 1987 after the Chernobyl disaster, but Mr Berlusconi has made its reintroduction a major policy goal.
His government had argued that it would have slashed electricity bills, reduced Italy’s energy dependency and been better for the environment.
“Italians have finally woken up and decided to take their destiny into their hands,” said a jubilant Margherita Sina, 25, one of hundreds partying in the streets of Rome as people around her waved trade union and Greenpeace flags. “This is huge! Italians have become more responsible,” she said.
Sixteen-year-old Laura said: “It’s the beginning of the end for Berlusconi, this really is the end of Berlusconi-ism.”
Mr Berlusconi did not vote and the government had encouraged its supporters to stay away but it switched to damage control mode as the scale of the defeat became clear, warning critics against making too much of the referendums.
Daniele Capezzone, a spokesman for the ruling party, said critics should not see “a meaning or a political effect” in the votes, while Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said there would be “no effect on government policy”.