After the referendum flop on citizenship, Conte relaunches the Ius Scholae and winks to Forza Italia

Brussels – The day after the referendum, the leader of the 5 Star Movement (M5S), Giuseppe Conte, starts from the European Parliament in Brussels, where – together with the former Greek Finance Minister at the time of the Troika, Yanis Varoufakis – he spoke today (June 10) at an event organized by the M5S delegation. Pressed by reporters, the former prime minister returned to the flop of the five questions that missed the quorum. In particular, the one on citizenship turned out to be the most divisive: “A right battle with the wrong instrument,” commented Conte.

On the question proposing to halve from 10 to 5 years the time of legal residence in Italy for adult foreigners to be able to apply for Italian citizenship, 30.59 percent of eligible voters cast their ballot. It was in line with the other four questions. However, compared with the requests for greater labour protection – for which between 87 and 89 percent of those who voted were in favor – the yes camp to the citizenship question was 65.49 percent. The numbers indicate that many of those who supported the four questions promoted by the CGIL trade union turned their backs on the one regarding citizenship.

The former premier, who had not given voting instructions to his electorate, voted in favor. “The battle is right, but we were offered an instrument that has left us perplexed, and we believe is wrong,‘ he said. Indeed, Conte does not spare criticism for “those who promoted that referendum,” first and foremost the secretary of +Europa, Riccardo Magi, who deposited it in the Supreme Court, but also civil society organizations such as Libera, ARCI, and the Gruppo Abele. “They risk pushing the solution away,” said Conte.

“For us, the best instrument is the Ius Scholae, on which the center-right should also be challenged,” the M5S leader continued. In the face of the need to build a majority in Parliament that can offset the “no” votes of Fratelli d’Italia and the League, Conte winks at Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani‘s Forza Italia: “You saw that Forza Italia has a proposal somewhat similar to ours,” he said. “It is on that basis that we can offer integration paths and a solution to a problem of citizenship.”

Regarding the referendum’s outcome – on which Berlusconi’s former party abstained – Tajani relaunched: “The fairest reform to guarantee integration is Forza Italia’s: 10 years of successful schooling, and then you can apply for citizenship.” Forza Italia proposes to make it possible to apply for Italian citizenship after 10 years of successful study (i.e., after compulsory schooling) that certifies, among other things, knowledge of the Italian language and history. The M5S aims to grant citizenship to foreign minors born in Italy or who arrived by age 12 and who have regularly attended Italian schools for at least five years or obtained a three-year or four-year professional qualification.

“They are not really comparable,” Conte admitted. However, from Brussels, the former premier invited to stop fighting after the clashes over the referendum and start working on a reform of the citizenship law. An appeal that, however, in light of the referendum results, should also be made within the opposition itself.