Italy will take place on June 8th and 9th a referendum on relaxing the rules for granting citizenship based on length of residence. The proposal envisages reducing the minimum length of legal residence required to apply for citizenship from 10 to 5 years. Italian citizenship. However, central figures in the government of Giorgia Meloni They are asking the population not to vote.
The vote will only be valid if more than 50% of voters turn out. Previous referendums have shown low turnout: of the 29 held since 1995, only four have reached a quorum.
Senate President Ignazio La Russa, of the Brothers of Italy party, said he would campaign for people to stay home. He is an ally of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has so far not commented on the issue.
Other leaders of the ruling coalition have also joined the boycott. Igor Iezzi, a member of parliament for the League party, said abstention was the party's official position. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said he would go to the beach on the day of the vote.
In 2022, Salvini had compared abstention to “giving up” when advocating a referendum on the justice system. At the time, turnout was just 21%.
The opposition reacted to the boycott. Riccardo Magi, leader of the +Europe party, said that this stance was not compatible with what is expected of “a normal country”. The government claims, however, that abstention is legal and that left-wing governments have already adopted a similar strategy, as occurred in 1999.
Fear of “surrendering citizenship”
The government argues that easing access to citizenship is dangerous and that Italy already grants more citizenships per year than most European countries. Salvini said the proposal amounts to “handing over citizenship on a silver platter”.
The opposition, however, disputes this view. Magi claims that the proposal would only make the process more accessible to legal residents, who still need to prove income, no criminal record and proficiency in Italian.
The movement Italians without citizenship supports the reform. The group defends the right to citizenship for people born and raised in Italy, but who, because they are children of foreigners — including Brazilians —, face bureaucratic barriers. Today, anyone born in Italy to foreign parents can apply for citizenship at the age of 18, as long as they can prove continuous legal residence. If they miss this deadline, the requirement goes back to 10 years of residence.
The actress and writer Tezetà Abraham reported that it took him 19 years to obtain his citizenship. “This change would greatly reduce the requirements for those in the same situation,” he told the magazine International.
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