Apathy kills Italian reform plan

A Milan polling station: Voter apathy was widespread

A referendum on electoral reform in Italy has flopped due to voter apathy - strengthening the hand of the opposition.

The Interior Ministry said just 32% of voters went to the polls on Sunday - well short of the 50% needed for the result to be valid.

A similar vote last year was declared invalid for the same reason.

The key vote in the referendum concerned whether Italians wanted to scrap the system of proportional representation in general elections.

Voters were asked seven questions in all about electoral reform and reform of the judiciary.

Boost for Berlusconi

The outcome of the vote gave a fresh boost to Italian opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi, who had urged voters to abstain.

Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi casts his ballot

Mr Berlusconi succeeded in bringing down the government of former Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema after his centre-right bloc triumphed in regional elections just over a month ago.

"Referendum flop - Berlusconi wins" said the front-page headline in the Turin daily La Stampa.

Elections

The daily Il Messaggero said elections now looked "closer than ever" after the referendum setback for the new centre-left government of Prime Minister Giuliano Amato.

There are about 40 political parties in Italy, and many would have disappeared with the abolition of the proportional vote.

Most smaller parties openly advised their supporters not to take part in the referendum.

Supporters of the abolition of proportional representation said it would bring more stability to Italy's political system, which has seen 58 governments come and go since World War II.

Currently a quarter of the members of parliament are chosen proportionally, and the remainder by first-past-the-post.

It was estimated that it took some voters up to half an hour just to read through the complicated referendum proposals.

The failed referendum postpones any further moves towards electoral reform until after next year's general election.

'Anti-politics'

One of the seven questions in the referendum asked Italians whether they wanted state funding of political parties abolished.

Three votes focused on reforming the judiciary and two others on reforming the labour market.

The newspaper La Repubblica commented that the latest referendum flop was "a 'no' to politics and the victory of anti-politics".