Monday, December 5, 2016

Nigel Farage on Italy's Referendum: Seemed to be "more about the euro than constitutional change".

 Referendum didn’t solve Italy’s woes

Not for the first time, Italy is in political turmoil. The prime minister, Matteo Renzi, has resigned after voters overwhelmingly rejected a referendum on constitutional change that was widely seen as a plebiscite on his leadership. While there are complex and dysfunctional politics at play – the incoming caretaker government will be the 64th in 70 years – the decision is more a reflection of economic circumstances. 

The comparisons with the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom, which led to the resignation of prime minister David Cameron, are obvious. But this decision is a symptom of the persistent economic malaise that has hit hard in southern Europe. Greece, Spain and Portugal are struggling along with Italy. And, as we have seen in Greece, there is no appetite among the electorate to vote for the painful economic reform needed to remedy the situation. The vote will certainly empower those who question the future of the European Union and the single currency. The former leader of Britain’s far-right United Kingdom Independence Party, Nigel Farage, tweeted that the referendum seemed to be "more about the euro than constitutional change".

More @ The National

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