Referendum post-mortem for CdL

After yesterday's referendum defeat for the centre-right, Repubblica.it reports some scuttlebutt that may signal a very poor future for the parties that supported the reform:

Berlusconi dopo la sconfitta "Ora proveranno a farmi fuori" - Politica - Repubblica.it: "Al Senato, ad esempio, è già scattato l'allarme. Un plotone di 6-7 senatori potrebbe trasferirsi armi e bagagli nel gruppo misto per poi contrattare con Prodi il sostegno al governo. Senatori provenienti dalle fila centriste, ma anche forziste."

Italian referendum results

Well, the results are out in today's referendum on the constitutional revision programme of the centre-right. Take-away points:

• the proposal was rejected convincingly, with more than six in ten voters disapproving of the law


• the South & Islands rejecting the proposal most strongly, followed by Central Italy, then the North


• Forza Italia strongholds (Lombardy and the Veneto) were the only regions to support the reform

There are three main questions here. First, why did the proposal fail?; second, why did the regions which did support it more do so?; and third, what happens for those parties which 'lost' the campaign (Forza Italia and the Lega Nord)?

My guesses on the first two questions - and they remain guess es until we can see exit polls with breakdowns of support for the proposal according to party - is that the referendum was lost because it was difficult to explain and because the UDC and Alleanza Nazionale didn't want to spend much time doing so; that the regions which did support the proposal more strongly did so because they were regions full of voters who vote for Forza Italia and the Lega, and were mobilised by those parties.

Granted, Forza Italia can't have convinced in the South. It sweeps Sicily in general elections, but Sicily still voted convincingly against the proposal.

Aznar resigns as Privy Council because of NewsCorp

El Mundo reports that former Prime Minister Aznar has resigned as Councillor of State (UK: Privy Councillor) in virtue of the incompatibility of that office with his membership of the board of News Corporation. As with all controversial cases of post-political careers, the question is: what does Aznar bring to NewsCorp?

BlogGoverno

I haven't posted recently thanks to what will hopefully be my last-ever exams. I hope to post more in the next couple of days - especially on the referendum and Savoia scandal issues, but for the moment, BlogGoverno is an excellent site which involves sectoral 'experts' commenting on the government's action.

ePolitix.com - Text vote to choose Tory mayoral candidate

ePolitix.com - Text vote to choose Tory mayoral candidate: another example of (a) David Cameron's tactical brilliance, and (b) the successful export of American-style primaries, used successfully in Italy to choose Romano Prodi as the centre-left's flag-bearer.

Senate elects committee chairs

Twelve presidents were elected to Senate committees today, with two committees (Defence and EU Affairs) still to come. Of the twelve, eleven presidents came from the centre-left. Only one - industry - went to a Forzista. See the Senate's news page.

For all the fuss that Berlusconi's made about the left's 'occupation' of all important posts, the left has been more generous to the right in 2006 than the right was to the left in 2001, when all fourteen commission presidents came from the centre-right coalition. In part, this is because the left doesn't have a majority in all commissions. Industry went to Scarabosio because of the defection of one Senator for abroad, who is on the margins of the centre-left coalition.

The most surprising result in fact comes from the election of Giorgio Benvenuto as president of the Finance commission. Seems the centre-left managed to persuade one centre-right senator to jump ship. Poor whipping on the part of the centre right. They're never going to be able to exploit the centre-left in the Senate if they keep this standard.

Italy govt mulling 3 options on curbing Mediaset, RAI power - report - Forbes.com

Italy govt mulling 3 options on curbing Mediaset, RAI power - report - Forbes.com: "MILAN (AFX) - Italy's government is expected to consider three options to curb the market power of Mediaset SpA and state broadcaster RAI, said a report in Corriere della Sera, citing sector experts."