International Desk : The highly anticipated referendum in Italy has been canceled due to a voter turnout of only 30%, a disappointing outcome for expatriate Bangladeshis.

Voters cast their ballots on five key issues, including citizenship law, over a two-day period as ordered by the court.

The referendum, initiated by a court order, aimed to address proposals such as reducing the residency requirement for immigrants applying for citizenship from 10 years to 5, increasing worker protection in employment, and establishing provisions for punishing those responsible for workplace accidents.

This much-anticipated referendum by expats has been officially canceled due to the insufficient number of voters.

According to the country`s electoral law, an election is considered valid only if more than 50% of registered voters participate. In this election, only 30.6% of votes were cast.

Italy`s far-right government, led by Giorgia Meloni, was against these proposals.

With a final voter turnout of only 30.6%, the hopes of approximately 2.5 million foreigners residing in the country for quicker citizenship remain unfulfilled. 

Bangladeshis attribute this unfortunate result to the anti-foreigner campaigns waged by right-wing parties.

Not only has the 2025 referendum on Italian citizenship and labor rights been canceled, but a similar referendum on judicial reforms held in 2022 was also annulled.

While this latest vote saw a 30% turnout, the 2002 referendum had only 20.4%.

Italy`s left-wing and centrist political parties, civil society organizations, and a leading labor union had successfully challenged the government to agree to hold this referendum.

Supporters of the proposals argued that these reforms would benefit nearly 2.5 million foreign nationals residing in the country and align Italy`s citizenship laws with those of many other European nations, including Germany and France.

However, the referendum failed to gain validity as it did not meet the required 50% voter turnout.