Calling the defeat of her referendum on the judicial system “a lost chance to modernise Italy”, prime minister Giorgia Meloni nevertheless insisted she would continue to serve out what is already one of the longest post-war prime-ministerial terms in office. Parliamentary elections, which polls suggest she may yet win, are next year.
“The vote is not about me, but about justice,” she told voters ahead of the referendum, which saw a high 60 per cent turnout and a 54 per cent No vote. Opposition to the proposal reflected both concern about the ostensible purpose of her reform of the creaking courts system, and general disillusionment with the right-wing prime minister. As Irish referendums have shown, persuading voters to confine their vote to the question on the ballot paper is difficult.
Meloni had sent mixed messages about the complicated reform proposal. It sought to streamline and separate the career paths of independent judges and prosecutors and introduce new oversight procedures. The prime minister said the measure was a logical, unpolitical reform but then claimed the vote would be an opportunity to challenge judicial bias, pointing to the many decisions that had gone against her government over issues such as the expulsion of refugees.
The opposition warned that the measure would upset careful checks and balances in Italy’s post-war constitution to protect the rule of law and judicial independence. This was, they warned, Meloni seeking to bring the judiciary under political control. A prime minister with neo-fascist political roots altering the legal order of Italy’s anti-fascist constitution was always bound to be contentious.
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It is the first significant defeat for Meloni’s coalition, which has overseen a rare period of political stability. It will embolden the opposition parties as the long run-in gets underway to the 2027 election. Meloni is rejecting the claim that the defeat was an “eviction notice”, but she will recognise an unsettled electorate, worried about the cost of living and the economic outlook.
