The squares of many Italian cities and towns are full tonight (Monday) with people celebrating a victory in defeating the constitutional referendum for a so-called reform of the justice system.

The government did not even need a quorum, so the risk that an authoritarian attack on the constitution might succeed was high. Only one vote more for a government Yes over the No would have meant the constitution would have been breached.

This attack on the judiciary reflects similar processes going on in the United States and Britain. Trump is appointing his stooges everywhere he can in the judiciary. Starmer is passing laws defining non-violent protesters as terrorists and restricting our right to a jury trial.

Internationally creeping fascism necessarily involves such restructuring of the legal processes to repress protest and freedom of expression, given that capitalist rule is provoking resistance from workers and young people.

Left mobilisation

Voter turnout was extremely high, at nearly 59 per cent. I saw a post in a newspaper with a special graphic that ‘showed’ how the pro-government Yes vote grew as the turnout exceeded 50%.  It shows that left- and progressive people mobilised to stop the far-right-led Meloni government from changing the Italian constitution to weaken the judiciary’s independence from the government. A post-result poll also estimated that 61% of young people aged 18 to 34 voted No.

Young people have been active in the streets in support of Palestine and against recent repressive measures. This was the first electoral setback for Meloni’s government, which has been relatively stable for the three and a half years in office. The 2025 labour movement initiated an abrogative referendum to repeal certain anti-worker labour legislation, but it failed to reach a quorum by a wide margin.

The proposed changes were in the manifesto proposed by the far-right-led coalition at the general election. It would have stopped judges from changing roles between prosecuting and judging during their careers.

More importantly, it would have seriously weakened the autonomy and self-organisation of judges. A lottery system and the addition of appointed judges to the governing body would have made judges less independent of the government.

Why independent judges are important

The combativity of the left and the labour movement declined through the 1980s, and progressive prosecuting magistrates often played an important role in exposing the corruption of the main parties, particularly Craxi’s Socialist Party, the Christian Democrats, and, later, Berlusconi’s Forza Italia.

Unsurprisingly, Berlusconi’s family spoke up strongly for the Yes vote in the campaign.  Prosecuting magistrates like Falcone and Borsellino also took on the Mafia and other organised crime groups. They paid with their lives, blown up by Mafia bombs.  Probably many Italians respected such a sacrifice and recognised that the possibility of fighting corruption would be restricted if the Yes vote won.

This does not mean that the justice system in Italy is on the side of the working class.  Money still counts, and the rich and powerful can string out cases for years to avoid prison. Berlusconi was convicted of fraud, and his rise to power was undoubtedly due to his links with the mafia, but he never spent a day inside – he had to do sing-alongs at local senior residential homes as punishment for his crimes. 

Craxi did a runner to Tunisia, too. If you are poor or a migrant, it is hard to get justice. Few bosses have served time for the horrendous numbers of supposed ‘accidental’ deaths in workplaces.

Why socialists defend democratic spaces

Nevertheless, it is important for the labour and progressive movements to always defend any limited but vital democratic spaces that our struggles have achieved.

The Italian constitution is a result of the relationship of class forces that existed at the end of the Second World War, when the resistance primarily liberated northern Italy before the US and British troops arrived. Faced with the power and popularity of Soviet Russia, the ruling class realised that they had to make concessions on both democratic and social spending issues.

The General Secretary of the CGIL, Italy’s main trade union confederation, Maurizio Landini, speaking for the Committee for the ‘No’ vote in the referendum, gathered at the Frentani Congress Centre, commented:

The Constitution must not be changed, it must not be overturned, but it must be applied. It is a message of unity. Given this wonderful result, this wonderful day, we think it is also worth telling everyone who wants to celebrate with us that around 6–6.30 pm we can meet in Piazza Barberini. A new spring has begun in our country.

Elly Schlein, leader of the PD, the Democratic party – a social liberal formation – said: ‘the result is a clear political message to Meloni and the government, who must now reflect, listen to the country and its true priorities’ and is ‘a message for us too’.

Potere al Popolo (Power to the People party) and the more left-wing Social No Committee have called for various gatherings in many Italian squares under the slogan, “The ‘No’ has won. Meloni resign!”

A boost for the movement

This result is a positive boost for all those struggling against the government and attempting to develop a radical alternative. A major demonstration against the Meloni government is planned for the 28th March, coinciding with the US No Kings mobilisation.

Unfortunately, the energy the Landinis and Schleins put into the democratic campaign to defend the constitution is absent or deflated when it comes to combating the government’s recent crackdowns on protests. For example, the police went in hard when closing down the left/progressive community centre in Turin a few weeks ago.

Neither will they bring the trade union actions around a national campaign for living wages in the contract negotiations. They fail to put pressure on the government to oppose the genocide in Palestine and the drive to war in Iran. There is a majority in support of Italy defending the Palestinians and not supporting Trump. Schlein limits her solidarity with Palestine because she has to manage pro-Israeli voices inside her party.

The Meloni government also wants to introduce a new electoral law, which will favour the existing right-wing coalition. It has another dangerous proposal for electing the prime minister directly. The latter change would further personalise politics in a populist direction, putting more power in the hands of a presidential leader rather than political parties. Italians do not need reminding of the dangers of this sort of political setup, given the Mussolini fascist period less than a century ago.

Both measures require referendums, and after this result, the government would find it difficult to win. Every locality now has groups of activists honed in this victorious campaign. In this sense, it is a serious setback and could be a turning point for the Meloni project.

However, Meloni’s popularity has been surprisingly resilient after over 3 years in power. Victory in the referendum needs to be translated into a broader mobilisation against the government.

In light of the general election 2027, this result at least shows that there is a broadly progressive electoral alternative to Meloni’s far-right.  It may give a boost to the many thousands of activists fighting to build a more radical alternative than that proposed by the PD and any sort of broad front, including Conte’s Five Star Movement (M5S). It was the pro-business, social-liberal policies of the previous PD/M5S governments that opened the door to the far-right-led government we have today.

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