Brussels, 08/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - Several MEPs in Umberto Bossi's Lega Nord (Northern League) are outraged that the European Constitution was ratified in Italy by parliament without a referendum. During the vote at the Italian Senate on Wednesday, several of the 16 'no' votes were by Senators of the Lega Nord (217 Senators voted 'yes' - see Europe No. 8922). In a press release on Thursday, Lega MEP Mario Borghezio said it was 'monstrous' that such a serious decision should be removed from popular control in Italy, letting the usual powerful lobbies and parties have their say yet again. Two other MEPs, Francesco Speroni and Matteo Salvini, protested that in Italy people had deliberately wanted to deprive citizens of the possibility of directly expressing themselves about a document that will have a huge impact on their future.
Alfredo Antoniozzi, Forza Italia MEP, argued that the ratification in Italy should send a signal to France, and also to the Netherlands, where people will be voting just a few days before the French referendum. He said Italy should act as a mediator in favour of a 'yes' vote in other countries where, for example, there is a very large presence of citizens of Italian origin. He added that precisely in France and the United Kingdom (another at-risk country) there were tens of thousands of Italians, and Italian cultural institutions and consulates therefore played an important role.