ktlight
14th June 2011, 09:24
FYI:
The majority of Italians have backed opposition-proposed referendum which calls for abolishing immunity for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and banning nuclear power production.
The government worked hard to keep the turnout below 50 percent to be able to scrape the vote, but Italians flocked the polls to vote in opposition to the government.
With the turnout of 57 percent, over 90 percent voted against the government, since the majority of voters were opponents.
Though the final results are expected late Monday, the opposition has already begun calling on the government to step down.
"At this point they should resign," Pier Luigi Bersani, the leader of Italy's main opposition Democratic Party, told reporters.
During the two-day referendum, Italians voted against a legislation that allows the country's ministers to avoid attending corruption trials.
They further backed an existing law that forces the privatization of local water utilities, as well as a plan to ban nuclear power production.
The Italians' main concern was voting on whether their country should resume nuclear power production, following Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster triggered by a powerful earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in March.
The nuclear vote aimed at putting an end to Berlusconi's plans to restart Italy's atomic energy program by 2014.
Most of those who participated in the referendums were reportedly supporters of the center-left opposition. Berlusconi, on the other hand, had urged his supporters to boycott the ballot.
The referendum is widely viewed as a test measuring Berlusconi's popularity and power base. The Italian premier is currently involved in four corruption trials.
The 74-year-old has had an extensive history of criminal allegations, including mafia involvement, corruption, and bribery of police officers, lawyers, and judges.
The vote comes after Berlusconi's party suffered a humiliating defeat in mayoral elections in Milan and Naples last month.
source
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/184544.html
The majority of Italians have backed opposition-proposed referendum which calls for abolishing immunity for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and banning nuclear power production.
The government worked hard to keep the turnout below 50 percent to be able to scrape the vote, but Italians flocked the polls to vote in opposition to the government.
With the turnout of 57 percent, over 90 percent voted against the government, since the majority of voters were opponents.
Though the final results are expected late Monday, the opposition has already begun calling on the government to step down.
"At this point they should resign," Pier Luigi Bersani, the leader of Italy's main opposition Democratic Party, told reporters.
During the two-day referendum, Italians voted against a legislation that allows the country's ministers to avoid attending corruption trials.
They further backed an existing law that forces the privatization of local water utilities, as well as a plan to ban nuclear power production.
The Italians' main concern was voting on whether their country should resume nuclear power production, following Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster triggered by a powerful earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in March.
The nuclear vote aimed at putting an end to Berlusconi's plans to restart Italy's atomic energy program by 2014.
Most of those who participated in the referendums were reportedly supporters of the center-left opposition. Berlusconi, on the other hand, had urged his supporters to boycott the ballot.
The referendum is widely viewed as a test measuring Berlusconi's popularity and power base. The Italian premier is currently involved in four corruption trials.
The 74-year-old has had an extensive history of criminal allegations, including mafia involvement, corruption, and bribery of police officers, lawyers, and judges.
The vote comes after Berlusconi's party suffered a humiliating defeat in mayoral elections in Milan and Naples last month.
source
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/184544.html