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Filippo Michelini was having a drink at San Calisto, a popular bar in Rome’s Trastevere neighbourhood on Wednesday night. As he chatted to his friends, Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government was reeling from a failed referendum, and her beleaguered tourism minister, Daniela Santanchè, had just resigned.
Michelini, a 29-year-old computer scientist who lives in Brussels, was spending a few days in the Italian capital after returning home last weekend to cast his ballot in the plebiscite on judicial changes.
Ordinarily, such a topic might not be expected to appeal to many young people, often dismissed as politically apathetic. Yet younger Italians turned out in droves, with the largest share of the vote against the overhauls – 68.4% – coming from 18- to 29-year-olds, according to figures from Cise, a centre for electoral studies at Luiss University in Rome.
The measures would have required amendments to Italy’s post-fascism constitution that would have ushered in fundamental changes to the judicial system’s structure. Meloni said the proposed measures were essential for impartiality, while critics argued they would give too much power to the government.
The striking turnout among the younger generation was all the more notable given that students and workers living away from their registered home towns were unable to vote by proxy or post, forcing many, like Michelini, to travel back.
In the 2022 general election that brought Meloni’s government to power, he said he spoiled his ballot paper, put off by the country’s “closed list” system, in which voters choose parties rather than individual candidates, giving party leaders the power to pick who represents them in parliament.
But referendums are important, Michelini said, and on this occasion he felt the judicial proposals would have tampered with the constitution in a way he could not ignore. “The constitution is a fundamental element of our society,” he said. “These reforms would have given more power to people who are already powerful.”
His friend, Sibillia, 29, who did not want to give her surname, also voted “No” over suspicions about the government’s motives. “Italy’s justice system does need to change, it is slow and inefficient,” she added. “If this was a government I trusted, I might have voted in favour, but from what I could understand, it was not about improving the system.”
The consequences of the referendum on Meloni’s government, which for more than three years has overseen an unusual period of calm in Italian politics, cannot be underestimated.
Michelini and his friends noted the irony over the prime minister scrambling to clean up the “illegality” in her own house amid the fallout.
Before Santanchè, a member of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy who since 2023 has been embroiled in legal wranglings related to her business activities and denies wrongdoing, two justice ministry officials and fellow party members fell on their swords – one of whom was revealed to have held shares in a restaurant with links to the mafia.
However, Meloni and the justice minister, Carlo Nordio, who drafted the overhauls – and who during the campaign referred to the judiciary’s supreme council as a “para-mafia system” – have rejected opposition calls to step down.
“The resignations show how shrewd Meloni can be,” said Cecilia Sottilotta, an associate politics professor at the University for Foreigners in Perugia. “She’s kicking the [others] out in order to avoid bringing the focus on herself and Nordio.”
The fallout has also shaken coalition partner Forza Italia, which backed the changes in honour of its late founder, Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister who faced dozens of criminal trials, as his daughter Marina reportedly pushes to oust the old guard and renew the party. Maurizio Gasparri, a longtime Berlusconi loyalist, has resigned as the party’s senate chief while the leader, Antonio Tajani, reportedly faces the chop.
Meanwhile, Matteo Salvini, the leader of the League, Meloni’s third main alliance partner, sought refuge in Budapest, where he met European far-right allies to bolster support for Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, before elections there.
In public, Meloni has kept calm and carried on. She flew to Algeria for talks on boosting gas supplies from the north African country, and on Thursday praised the European parliament’s approval of sending refused asylum seekers to offshore hubs, crediting Italy’s contribution to the measure.
But pressure is mounting. On Saturday, thousands are expected to march in Rome calling for an end to wars – but also for Meloni’s resignation.
The high turnout among young Italians in the referendum can be explained partly by the consistent mobilisation in recent years on issues that are important to them, be it the climate crisis, Gaza, or domestic issues including civil rights, jobs and the cost of living, despite sometimes violent repression of protests owing to the government’s tough security measures.
Italy’s Last Generation climate activist group campaigned against the judicial changes over fears they would “further aggravate the possibility of expressing dissent in a non-violent way”, said Bruno Cappelli, a 33-year-old activist in Puglia.
All eyes are now on the next general election, which needs to take place before October 2027. While Meloni could be tempted to cut her losses and seek a new mandate through an early ballot, she is unlikely to do so given the war in the Middle East and economic pressures. “The international juncture is bad for everyone, but especially for her,” said Sottilotta.
Italy’s fragmented opposition parties are seizing on the government turmoil as they strive to build a credible alternative to Meloni. But they should not mistake young voters’ snub in the referendum as a sign of support for them.
Matteo Ferrario, 22, a student in Rome, said: “There is great sensitivity on issues such as the climate and what is going on in the world and Italy. But there is also discomfort because there seems to be no alternative.”
Like many of his counterparts, Ferrario is unconvinced by Elly Schlein, the Democratic party leader. “A bit like Meloni, she’s part of the shouty politics – all slogans and no solutions, as if they’re speaking at a fish market.”
