Italian voters cast ballots Sunday and yesterday in referenda on four questions: two on privatization of water services, one on criminal procedure (which would exempt the prime minister from prosecution) and one on a return to using nuclear power. More than 57% voted, surpassing the 50% +1 needed for the referenda to be binding. Of those voting, 95% voted “yes,” overturning the four laws under consideration.
In the case of nuclear power, Italy’s nuclear reactors went cold after the Chernobyl accident in 1987. Prime Minister Berlusconi had planned to build new reactors to restart the industry. That isn’t going to happen now. However, the voters may not all have been against nuclear power so much as they are against Mr. Berlusconi, and if prices rise enough, nuclear power in Italy may be reconsidered.
To say that Mr. Berlusconi’s government is troubled is rather like saying the Pacific Ocean is damp – a gross understatement. The Wall Street Journal observed “The immunity law also had been one of the government’s key planks. The law allows the prime minister and other top officials not to show up in court for criminal trials, if busy governing schedules are cited. Critics, however, have long characterized the law as a tailor-made measure aimed at shielding Mr. Berlusconi from the four criminal trials he is currently facing.” Those interested in the details should do a search on the terms “bunga bunga,” “Karima el-Mahroug “ and “Gaspare Spatuzza.”
Mr. Berlusconi opted not to defend his laws on their merits, but rather to discourage people from participating in the referenda. If the 50%+1 threshold was not met, his laws would stand. In doing so, though, he made himself the issue. Giovanni Sartori, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Florence told the Wall Street Journal, “This was a vote against nuclear energy. But by urging people not to go to the polls, Berlusconi turned this into a vote against himself.”
Still, it was a vote against nuclear power, and whoever succeeds Mr. Berlusconi will have to figure out an energy policy that does without it for some time to come. The chief beneficiary of this will be renewable energy – Mr. Berlusconi said Italy would have to “strongly commit” to it in light of the vote.