In a referendum on Sunday, Italian voters rejected Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s constitutional reform plan, which proposed a more powerful central government. Supporters of the measure argued it would streamline the country’s political system and bring it into line with European norms. But Renzi staked his political future on the vote — just as former British Prime Minister David Cameron did with the Brexit vote in June — promising to step down if the reform failed, and thereby transforming the contest into a de facto referendum on his administration.
“No” led with some 60 percent of votes, with a turnout of 70 percent. Analysts fear that the outcome could lead to a crisis for the country’s already troubled banks.
Renzi conceded early Monday. President Sergio Mattarella must now decide whether to appoint a new prime minister or call an early election. Italy will have had six prime ministers in ten years.
“No” led with some 60 percent of votes, with a turnout of 70 percent. Analysts fear that the outcome could lead to a crisis for the country’s already troubled banks.
Renzi conceded early Monday. President Sergio Mattarella must now decide whether to appoint a new prime minister or call an early election. Italy will have had six prime ministers in ten years.
Austria
While the referendum outcome in Italy marked a continuation of the populist, anti-establishment trend in international politics, the presidential election in Austria, also on Sunday, spelled a divergence. Alexander Van der Bellen, a former head of the country’s Green party and “pro-European” candidate, beat far-right politician Norbert Hofer in an election rerun called after voting irregularities the first time around. The election attracted attention across the European Union, in part because of its potential to serve as a harbinger of elections to come in France, Germany, and elsewhere in the bloc.
While the referendum outcome in Italy marked a continuation of the populist, anti-establishment trend in international politics, the presidential election in Austria, also on Sunday, spelled a divergence. Alexander Van der Bellen, a former head of the country’s Green party and “pro-European” candidate, beat far-right politician Norbert Hofer in an election rerun called after voting irregularities the first time around. The election attracted attention across the European Union, in part because of its potential to serve as a harbinger of elections to come in France, Germany, and elsewhere in the bloc.
Andrew Michta writes: Europe has a binary choice before it: either refocus on its relations with the United States, finally answer Washington’s calls for equitable burden-sharing, including a reinvestment into its militaries, or maintain the status quo while the residual consensus on the critical importance of the transatlantic link to Europe’s security fragments and eventually breaks….For the first time in a quarter-century, Europe’s security dilemma is real: Get serious about rebuilding the transatlantic relationship, or accept the rapid marginalization and return to bilateralism with all its risks. – The American Interest
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