Italians will begin voting on Sunday in a referendum on whether to relax the Citizenship Act, but the voter turnout is so low that the outcome will be invalidated.
The two-day referendum, which ends Monday, asks voters if they agree to a reversal of the labour market’s 10-year-old liberalization.
Labour market questions aim to make it more difficult to fire some employees and increase compensation for workers who have been redundant by small businesses, reverse the law passed by the Democratic (PD) government about a decade ago.
However, the most attention among Italian voters is the issue of citizenship.
Concerns about the size of immigration helped push the power of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right brothers in Italy in 2022.
Italians are asked whether they support the idea of reducing the length of residence required to apply for Italian citizenship between 10 and 5 years.
Organizers of the referendum say that if they die, it could affect around 2.5 million foreigners in Italy.
Italy’s fertility rate is declining sharply, and economists say the country needs more foreigners to boost its stagnant economy.
For Italian foreigners, the main channel of citizenship is through naturalization, which can occur after a decade of continued residence in the country.
Applicants should also demonstrate that they can integrate into society, have a minimum income, have a clean criminal history and speak Italian properly.
The pre-resident prerequisites are rather short for citizens of other EU countries, and only have to wait four years to apply.
Differences in opinion
Ricardo Magi, the liberal Piu European Party secretary, supports reducing the time required to apply for citizenship.
He calls the current rules “old and unjust” and says they have been in force for a long time, as successive governments lack the political will of change.
Magi believes that the referendum proposal is reasonable as it only reduces the residence time requirement without changing other requirements.
He says the current law “forces hundreds of thousands of girls and boys born or raised in Italy to live as foreigners in their country.”
Magi also believes that the amendment will have an indirect positive effect on many of the residents born in Italy, or where citizenship is taken over by at least one new Italian parent.
“They are ingrained, they work, they pay taxes, they’re studying… They’re sure they can vote and participate in public votes. This is a liberal idea of citizenship,” he said.
But the Noi Moderati Party said its position in the referendum was overwhelming no, Centist Vice President Maria Chiara Fazio told Euroneuz.
“Citizenship is the deepest connection between the state and the individual,” Fazio emphasized.
“It’s not the subject of simplifying the referendum. It’s a topic that requires in-depth research, mutual listening and serious parliamentary discussion.”
Fazio defended the current legal structure, but acknowledged that some bureaucratic aspects must be tightened to leave many candidates at Limbo.
However, Noi Moderati’s position on the referendum is not uncommon. The two coalition party leaders, Antonio Tajani of Forza Italy and Matteo Salvini of Legga or League, both said they would not vote on Sunday.
Meloni attends the polling station, but does not even cast a vote.
The indifference to the referendum also appears to have been fooled by regular voters. A Demopolis Institute poll conducted in May was estimated to be between 31% and 39%, which is significantly short of the threshold required to carry out the outcome restraint.
