Referendum a vote against Europe: Salvini

POLL CAMPAIGN: Head of the rightist Northern League says Europe has hurt Italian economy, banks

ROME: A ‘No’ vote in Sunday’s referendum on constitutional reform would be a slap in the face to Europe, said the head of the rightist Northern League, pledging to pull Italy from the euro if he wins the next national elections.

Matteo Salvini, ( pictured) who has said he would run for prime minister, has helped lead the campaign against the government’s planned overhaul of the constitution, saying it does not address Italy’s main problems.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi says his reform will boost political stability in a country that has had 63 governments since 1948, and has promised to resign if he loses the vote.

Opinion polls suggest that he is set for defeat.

In an interview, Salvini said that if the ‘No’ camp won, Italy should hold elections in 2017, a year ahead of schedule.

“This ‘No’ vote will also be a ‘No’ vote against the rules and regulations of Europe, which have been disastrous for Italy,” Salvini said, adding that EU austerity measures had shredded the Italian economy.

EU leaders, including European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, have thrown their weight behind Renzi, fearful that his resignation might unleash political and economic turmoil.

The 43-year-old Salvini said Europe had let Italy down, limiting its ability to salvage its debt-laden banks and doing little to help it deal with an influx of almost half a million migrants over the past three years.

A vocal supporter of US presidentelect Donald Trump and a fierce critic of mass immigration, Salvini said he would place quitting the single euro currency at the heart of his election manifesto.

“We want a more just currency, which would probably be valued 20 per cent lower than the actual euro, giving our companies 20 per cent more chance to export,” he said.

A survey published by ‘La Stampa’ newspaper last week said 71 per cent of Italians thought leaving the euro would make Italy’s fragile economy even worse, but Salvini dismissed the polls and said he was working with economists on a plan for withdrawal.

“I am not mad. We have thought things through, because if I am elected, I will have to do this,” he said.

The Northern League is the third largest political force in Italy, garnering support of around 13 per cent against roughly 30 per cent for both Renzi’s Democratic Party (PD) and the antisystem 5-Star Movement, which is also opposed to the euro.

The once dominant Forza Italia (Go Italy) party of former premier Silvio Berlusconi lies just behind the Northern League. Analysts say centre-right parties would have an outside chance of victory if they could create a united front, as in the past. Berlusconi, who turned 80 this year and survived major heart surgery, has said he wants to return to front line politics at the head of the centre-right, challenging Salvini for supremacy.

This ‘No’ vote will also be a ‘No’ vote against the rules and regulations of Europe, which have been disastrous for Italy MATTEO SALVINI Northern League party chief