Italians are winding up two days of voting in a nationwide referendum Monday that deals with issues ranging from nuclear energy, the privatisation of water utilities, and whether government ministers can be exempt from attending trials against them. Beyond the legal questions, the referenda are being viewed by citizens and pundits as votes on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s aptness to lead the governing coalition – which has seen strained relations between Berlusconi’s PDL “People of Freedom Party” and Umberto Bossi’s Northern League. We spoke Professor of International Relations at The American University of Rome, James Walston, about the broader political ramifications of the vote…
Italians are winding up two days of voting in a nationwide referendum Monday that deals with issues ranging from nuclear energy, the privatisation of water utilities, and whether government ministers can be exempt from attending trials against them. Beyond the legal questions, the referenda are being viewed by citizens and pundits as votes on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s aptness to lead the governing coalition – which has seen strained relations between Berlusconi’s PDL “People of Freedom Party” and Umberto Bossi’s Northern League. We spoke Professor of International Relations at The American University of Rome, James Walston, about the broader political ramifications of the vote…
