Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Broadcast: 14/06/2011
Italians have turned their backs to president Silvio Berlusconi by voting against government plans at three referendums.
Transcript
ALI MOORE, PRESENTER: Results in the Italian referendums held over the weekend have struck a blow to Silvio Berlusconi's government.Voters have overwhelmingly decided against nuclear energy, they don't want to privatise the country's water utilities and they also made it clear that government ministers should not be immune from prosecution.
Europe correspondent, Emma Alberici.
EMMA ALBERICI, REPORTER: Those who turned up to celebrate on the streets of Rome cheered as much for their success at the polls as they did for their chance to send a message to their prime minister.
JAMES WALSTON, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ROME: Berlusconi is clearly out of favour with the majority of Italians, for one reason or another. He has tried so far to deal with his lack of support in the local elections, and now in the referendums, by ignoring the signs. He pretends that everything is alright.
EMMA ALBERICI: These were not compulsory elections and the Italian government spent $400 million trying to convince voters to stay away from the ballot box. Without a 50 per cent turnout, the referendum would not have been valid.
But not only did an overwhelming majority of Italians show up, 94 per cent of them voted yes to scrap Mr Berlusconi's plan to reintroduce nuclear power, which was abandoned in 1987 after the Chernobyl disaster.
In a country that's prone to earthquakes, Fukushima looms large.
SALVATORE BARBERA, GREENPEACE ITALY: 22 million and a half Italian people said 'Si'. Si means 'I don't want nuclear in this country' and this means that the only possibility is to go to renewable. Germany, Japan, Switzerland, now Italy.
EMMA ALBERICI: The prime minister had hoped that Italy would meet 25 per cent of its electricity needs with nuclear energy by 2030. Now it will need to rely more heavily on the renewable sector which already makes up 22 per cent of the country's power supplies.
SILVIO BERLUSCONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (TRANSLATION): Due to the decision that the Italian people are taking right now with the referendum, we will have to say goodbye to nuclear power plants. So now we will have to commit to the renewable sector.
EMMA ALBERICI: As counting ends in the three referenda it's clear the voters also said no to placing their prime minister and his cabinet above the law by allowing them to avoid court cases against them by claiming to be too busy to attend proceedings.
Italians rejected, too, Mr Berlusconi's proposal to privatise the state's water assets.
JAMES WALSTON: He's been the centre of Italian politics for 17 years, any vote that the Italians have taken over the last 17 years has in some way been a vote on Berlusconi and this one is no exception.
EMMA ALBERICI: The setback for the government comes just weeks after defeat for the ruling party in local elections. Mr Berlusconi's party lost control in important cities like Milan and Naples, but this time his coalition partner, the far right Northern League, also suffered heavy losses.
A general election isn't due to be held in Italy until 2013.
Emma Alberici, Lateline.
