Lollobrigida: "I will not vote in the referendums. They are like a congress of the Democratic Party". The Dems: "Scandalous"

“I will not go to vote in the referendum, I say it clearly. Many questions seem more like a congress of the Democratic Party than a referendum”. With Francesco Lollobrigida , the list of center-right exponents who will not go to the polls on June 8 and 9 to vote on the five questions of the Cgil, four on work and one on citizenship, grows.

The first invitation not to vote came from Antonio Tajani because he, the Foreign Minister, says he “does not support the referendum choice”. Then it was Ignazio La Russa ’s turn. “I will make propaganda so that people stay home”, the exact words of the President of the Senate pronounced in Florence last weekend during the right-wing culture festival organized by FdI. And again: the Northern League governors Massimiliano Fedriga of Friuli Venezia Giulia and Attilio Fontana of Lombardy will not vote.

Now it's the Minister of Agriculture's turn. "I will not vote. Even part of the Democratic Party has announced that it will abstain on three issues. It's their political issue. We are working to address with proposals within Parliament all the issues that are mentioned, from citizenship to labor reform, without going back. We did not consider these referendums useful, we did not sign them. The Constitution guarantees the freedom to go or not to vote; he concluded; and I personally will not participate".

The Democratic Party is not having it. Replying to Lollobrigida, the Democratic Party group leader in the Labor Committee of the Chamber, Arturo Scotto : "It should be remembered that a minister is not a private citizen. He swore on the Republican Constitution and has an additional duty compared to others: that of encouraging democratic participation, not discouraging it. Since he has no arguments to contest the merit of the referendums against precariousness and for citizenship, he takes it out on the main opposition party. He - continues the Democratic MP, still referring to Lollobrigida - who should answer for what he has done to combat gangmastering in the countryside, to stem the use of precarious contracts in the agri-food sector, to guarantee the many migrants who allow agriculture to continue equal dignity with all citizens. It is an all-Italian scandal - concludes Scotto - that of members of the government and institutional offices who call for abstention. Also to counter this drift, efforts must be multiplied so that the quorum is reached on June 8 and 9".

Not only the Democratic Party. Even +Europa with Riccardo Magi , president of the committee promoting the referendum on citizenship, comments: "After Tajani and La Russa, even Minister Lollobrigida is calling for abstention from the referendums: we are faced with a real anti-democratic government block that prefers to send people to the seaside rather than to the polls. They are afraid and it will be a boomerang for all those like La Russa, Tajani and Lollobrigida who will actively campaign for not voting. At this point, Meloni should have a surge of dignity, keep faith with the Constitution on which she swore and with the words she said in the past, when she called for people not to desert the polls and attacked governments that silence referendums".