Five nationwide
popular referendumA popular referendum is a type of a referendum that provides a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a...
s were held in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
on 8 November 1987, with three questions about
nuclear energyNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
after the
Chernobyl disasterThe Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
, and two questions about
justiceJustice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
. Voting day had been postponed of six months, according to the Italian Constitution, because of the
snap election of springThe Italian election of 1987 was held on June 14. Italian citizens chose the tenth Parliament of the Italian Republic.This election marked the final inversion of the trend of the entire republican history of Italy: for the first time, the distance between the Christian Democrats and the Communists...
.
Turnout was quite high, with a 65% of the electors participating to the referendum. For the first time since the adoption of the Constitution in 1948, a referendum was approved by the citizens.
Nuclear power referendums
The
nuclear power referendums concerned three issues:
- abolishing the statutes by which the Inter-ministries Committee for the Economical Programming (CIPE) could decide about the locations for nuclear plants, when the Regions
The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of the state, constituting its first NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, of which five are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes....
did not so within the time stipulated by Law 393;
- abolishing rewards for municipalities
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
in whose territories nuclear or coal plants were to be built;
- abolishing the statutes allowing ENEL
Enel may refer to:*Enel SpA, an Italian electricity company*Enel , a fictional villain in the One Piece manga and anime series*Enel, meaning third in the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, cf. Awakening of the Elves...
to take part in international agreements to build and manage nuclear plants.
Some commenters find that the questions were actually too technical for non-experts and were used to obtain popular consent after
Chernobyl disasterThe Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
in 1986.
In each referendum "Yes" won. Subsequently, the Italian government decided in 1988 to phase out existing plants. This led to the termination of work on the near-complete
Montalto di Castro Nuclear Power StationThe Montalto di Castro nuclear power station was a nuclear power plant at Montalto di Castro in Italy. Consisting of two BWR units each of 982 MWe, it was approaching completion in 1988 when the Italian government decided to close all nuclear plants...
, and the early closure of
Enrico Fermi Nuclear Power PlantEnrico Fermi Nuclear Power Plant was a nuclear power plant at Trino , in north-west Italy....
and Caorso NPP, both of which closed in 1990. Italy's other nuclear power plants had already closed prior to the decision, Latina NPP in December 1987.
Location for nuclear plants
This referendum asked to abolish the power of the State to oblige the local administrations to accept new nuclear plants in their territory. Italian voters had to say
yes if they wanted to support local administrations, or
no if they wanted to maintain statal supremacy about this theme. The referendum had a turnout of 65.1%.
Rejecting NPP location
20,984,110 (80.6%) |
|
|
Confirming NPP location
5,059,819 (19.4%) |
| ▲ |
Rewards for nuclear plants
This referendum asked to abolish rewards for local administrations which accepted nuclear, and coal, plants in their territory. Italian voters had to say
yes if they wanted to eliminate these payments, or
no if they wanted to maintain them. The referendum had a turnout of 65.1%.
Rejecting NPP rewards
20,618,624 (79.7%) |
|
|
Confirming NPP rewards
5,247,887 (20.3%) |
| ▲ |
ENEL nuclear plants abroad
This referendum asked to abolish the authorization for
ENELEnel may refer to:*Enel SpA, an Italian electricity company*Enel , a fictional villain in the One Piece manga and anime series*Enel, meaning third in the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, cf. Awakening of the Elves...
to built nuclear poer plants outside Italy. Italian voters had to say
yes if they wanted to forbid any worldwide nuclear engagement of Italy, or
no if they wanted to continue an Italian nuclear research abroad. The referendum had a turnout of 65.1%.
Rejecting abroad NPP
18,795,852 (71.9%) |
|
|
Confirming abroad NPP
7,361,666 (28.1%) |
| ▲ |
Justice referendums
The
justice referendums concerned two issues:
- abolishing the law excluding any type of civil responsibility of judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
s in event of judicial errors;
- abolishing the special parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
ary board-Flat surface:* Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat** See :Category:Engineered wood** Cutting board** Sounding board, of a musical instrument* Cardboard* Paperboard*Corrugated fiberboard*Fiberboard*Particle board, also known as chipboard...
of inquiry which excluded any investigation over ministerMinister can mean several things:* Minister , a Christian who ministers in some way* Minister , the rank of diplomat directly below ambassador* Minister , a politician who heads a ministry...
s by ordinary courts.
Debate about justice was strong in Italy during the 80's, expecially after the case of the unjust arrest of popular TV host and anchorman
Enzo TortoraEnzo Tortora , was a popular TV host and anchorman on national RAI television, who was falsely accused of being a member of the Camorra and drug trafficking...
, based only on false accusations by some
pentitoPentito designates people in Italy who, formerly part of criminal or terrorist organizations, following their arrests decide to "repent" and collaborate with the judicial system to help investigations...
mafiosi.
The referendums were called by the Radical Party to abolish privileges that nobody had abolished despite they were in opposition to the text of the Italian Constitution which affirms equality between any citizen. In facts, a sole incumbent minister had been condamed in all republican history:
Mario TanassiMario Tanassi was an Italian politician, who was several times Minister of the Italian Republic. In 1979 he was condemned by the Constitutional Court of Italy for his involvement in the Lockheed bribery scandal.-Biography:...
for the
Lockheed bribery scandalsThe Lockheed bribery scandals encompassed a series of bribes and contributions made by officials of U.S. aerospace company Lockheed from the late 1950s to the 1970s in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft....
in 1977. The referendum found support by the
Italian Socialist PartyThe Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
, which wanted to underline its reformist agenda, and by the
Italian Liberal PartyThe Italian Liberal Party was a liberal political party in Italy.-Origins:The origins of liberalism in Italy came from the so-called "Historical Right", a parliamentary group formed by Camillo Benso di Cavour in the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia following the 1848 revolution...
.
In each referendum "Yes" won. However, if ministers were definitely subjected to ordinary courts, the Christian Democracy and the
Italian Communist PartyThe Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
later approved a law strongly limiting the civil responsibility for
judgeA judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
s.
Judges' civil responsibility
This referendum asked to abolish the law excluding any responsibility for judicial errors. Italian voters had to say
yes if they wanted to abolish judges' exclusion from civil responsibility, or
no if they wanted to maintain it. The referendum had a turnout of 65.1%.
Rejecting irresponsibility
20,770,334 (80.2%) |
|
|
Confirming irresponsibility
5,126,021 (19.8%) |
| ▲ |
Ministers' board of inquiry
This referendum asked to abolish the law excluding ministers from ordinary prosecution. Italian voters had to say
yes if they wanted to abolish the parliamentary board which substitued ordinary court in ministerial accusations, or
no if they wanted to maintain it. The referendum had a turnout of 65.1%.
Rejecting inquiry board
22,117,634 (85.0%) |
|
|
Confirming inquiry board
3,890,111 (15.0%) |
| ▲ |
External links
- Referenda and Nuclear Power Plants - A Historical Overview at the Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
archive.
- European Nuclear Outlook at the McGraw-Hill
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., is a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Its primary areas of business are financial, education, publishing, broadcasting, and business services...
online energy resource site summarizes past referendums.