Italy regions vote on autonomy bid
MILAN: Voters in the northern Italian regions of Lombardy and Veneto were voting yesterday in referendums on autonomy, against the backdrop of Catalonia’s push for independence from Spain. The consultative votes are only the beginning of a process which could over time lead to powers being devolved from Rome. Secessionist sentiment in the two wealthy regions is restricted to fringe groups with little following.
Nonetheless, with both regions expected to vote in favor of the principle of greater autonomy, analysts see the referendums as reflecting the pressures that resulted in Scotland’s narrowly-defeated independence vote, Britain’s decision to leave the EU and the Catalan crisis. The level of turnout will have a critical bearing on the significance of the results. In Veneto, it has to pass 50 percent for the result to be considered valid. There is no threshold in Lombardy but low voter participation would weaken the region’s hand in any subsequent negotiations with the central government.
New powers European Parliament chief Antonio Tajani yesterday took care to distinguish between Catalan’s chaotic independence referendum, deemed illegal by Madrid, and the votes in Italy. “First of all these two referendums are legitimate, that was not the case in Catalonia,” he told the Rome daily Il Messaggero. “In Spain, it is not about autonomy, but a proclamation of independence in defiance of the rule of law and against the Spanish constitution.” He said Europe should “fear” the spread of small nations: “It is not by degrading nationhood that we reinforce Europe. Lombardy, which includes Milan, and Veneto, which houses Venice, are home to around a quarter of Italy’s population and account for 30 percent of its overall economic output.
With dynamic economies and lower unemployment and welfare costs than the Italian average, both regions are large net contributors to a central state widely regarded as inefficient at best. “Our taxes should be spent here, not in Sicily,” says Giuseppe Colonna, an 84-year-old Venetian. Veneto president Luca Zaia says 30 billion euros ($35 billion) are wasted every year at a national level and fiscal rebalancing will be a top priority for him and his Lombardy counterpart Roberto Maroni if the votes go their way.