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PREMIER SILVIO Berlusconi conceded today that Italy will “probably” have to give up plans to revive nuclear energy in a tacit acknowledgment that the referendum challenging government policies has succeeded.
If confirmed, the outcome would be a serious political defeat for Berlusconi, just two weeks after his candidates in local elections lost key votes in his political stronghold of Milan and in trash-choked Naples.
“Italy, following the decision that the Italian people are taking in these hours, probably will have to bid farewell to the question of nuclear power plants,” Berlusconi said at a news conference with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The nuclear disaster in Japan, following the March 11 quake and tsunami, was expected to have a powerful impact on voter sentiment. The Italian referendum on nuclear energy comes just weeks after Germany announced plans to abandon its nuclear program by 2022, in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster.
Italian voters appear to have ignored Berlusconi’s example, turning out strong in Sunday-Monday voting for a series of referendums that would block a revival of nuclear power, the privatisation of the water supply and undo a law that offers the Italian leader a partial legal shield in criminal prosecutions.
First validated referendum in over 15 years?
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said that experts in the ministry project turnout in the two days of voting will be above the 51 percent needed to validate the vote. If confirmed, it would be the first time in Italy since 1995 that a referendum has been validated.
Berlusconi and many of his allies abstained from voting on the ballot questions that were direct challenges to both Berlusconi’s policies and his legal tactics in criminal cases in Milan. Turnout when the polls closed on Sunday night was 41 per cent. Voting was continuing today.
Italy’s nuclear power plants were shut down by a 1987 referendum after the Chernobyl disaster. Berlusconi’s government tried to block the nuclear referendum, abrogating its own law relaunching nuclear power to give the country time for reflection. However, the country’s highest court said the referendum, backed by 750,000 signatures, could go ahead.
The government also passed a law mandating that the water supply be privatised by the end of 2011, saying private funds were needed to improve aging delivery systems and cut waste. Roman Catholic clergy joined the campaign to revoke the law, saying that water was a human right that should not be subject to market rules.
The referendum on whether top government officials could continue to enjoy a “legitimate impediment” from defending themselves in court due to official business was the most direct swipe at Berlusconi. Italy’s highest court already weakened the law, unfreezing criminal prosecutions in Milan earlier this year. The court said, however, that Berlusconi’s lawyers could present official conflicts preventing Berlusconi’s appearance on a hearing-by-hearing basis.
The strategy could create delays in ongoing cases, possibly pressing up against the statute of limitations, as Berlusconi’s defense seek to schedule court appearances in four cases amid the premier’s official duties.
Berlusconi, who for years failed to appear in court as is permitted for defendants in criminal cases in Italy, has changed his legal strategy, saying he wants to defend himself in court.
He currently is facing four criminal cases in Milan, including his trial on charges of having paid for sex with an underage teen and then using his influence to cover it up. That trial continues Tuesday, although Berlusconi is not expected to attend the technical hearing.
Berlusconi denies all wrongdoing in that, and other cases.
- AP
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the biggest obstacle is religion
The biggest problem is lack of education. I have lived in the AIDS capital of the world and religion was not the barrier there
religion is a barrier to education
Religion has nothing to do with this.
It’s lack of education and knowledge. Full stop.
I agree education is key, education in safe sex and removal of tribal cultures surrounding ‘cures’ for HIV, and especially key is the education of women – as they tend to be more likely to pass onto children, where culture and tradition have not yet become indoctrinated.
However, Africa has a boom in Catholicism: http://www.africamasterweb.com/AdSense/AfricaAndCatholicism.html
And the official Vatican stance and that of catholic relief and aid workers is that condoms are not to be condoned or distributed: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june11/vatican_05-30.html
This is despite condoms and testing being key to the decrease in HIV infections in the Western World.
Have you checked the numbers between countries with many Catholics and those with the highest AIDS rates? They might not match as closely as you believe.
Most of Southern Africa, which is where you will find those countries with the highest rates of AIDS are actually predominantly protestant:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_in_Africa#Southern_Africa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_by_country#Africa
Just to point out that I am actually an agnostic and so not a Church supporter but there’s no point blaming them for something that is not entirely their fault
Without getting into lies, damn lies, and statistics I would wonder how much of those protestants in Southern Africa are from an ex-pat background and therefore less likely to be an victim of HIV?
Like I say, I’m not discounting what you’re saying – I’d just like to see relief organisations (of which many are Catholic) move towards teaching and promoting safer sex, rather than unrealistic abstinence.
Most of the Africans in Southern Africa are protestant.
Most African catholics were converted by Catholic Missions who generally stayed around mid-Africa whereas the protestants (English, Dutch, etc.) settled and converted in Southern Africa.
I’ve grown up there. I know the statistics
I would like to say that I too, would like to see a realistic approach to teaching safe sex and use of condoms as opposed to using the ridiculous notions that Africans will follow the idea of abstinence
Siomha,
I remember Bishop Desmond Tutu addressing a WHO conference and declaring that the attitude of Catholic missionary and aid groups to condom use had exasperated the spread of the disease in Africa.
Religion is only a small part of it – need to look at the bigger picture!
I’ve been living with HIV for seven years. If it wasn’t for the antiretroviral drugs I’d be dead. Huge advances in the treatment and decreases in the stigma attached to the virus have been achieved, but there’s still a long way to go. The virus is seen as a manageable disease and therefore not the threat is once was. This is folly. I wish the only impact on my life was the taking of a tablet each evening. Little is known about the long-term effects of these drugs; nor about the very real risk of dementia, cancers, pneumonia, skin conditions and the host of opportunistic infections being infected leaves you prone to. Education is everything.
Why does Concern’s Senior HIV Adviser never mention the use of CONDOMS to fight Aids in developing countries? NOT MENTIONED ONCE.
I find that surprising as well. Condoms are the main way to prevent the spread of AIDS and nearly all anti-AIDS campaigns use those as their main platforms.
Maybe it is more than just the use of condoms that is important?
Si it is more but they are the best way to prevent AIDS spreading. Every campaign should highlight that
Could have sworn I heard the news on the radio say infection in young people here had risen sharply
The article doesn’t break down the infection rates by demographics so you could be right. The overall trend seems to be going the right way.
You did hear that. Young men 24 to 39 at highest risk, I think. Ignorance is on the rise because the heyday of AIDS campaigning was 20 years ago when they were little kids.
Hmmm.. There were people in Swaziland eating faecal matter not so long ago because they couldn’t take their AIDS meds on an empty stomach (talk about skewed priorities – drugs are more important than FOOD now?)
This article also points out that in the place where new infections are rampant nutrition and sanitation leave a lot to be desired..
Wonder how many people in the 3rd world get “diagnosed” with AIDS when malnutrition and poor sanitation is the true reason their immune systems don’t work? Bearing in mind that the “tests” (ELISA and western blot) specifically state that they are unsuitable for determining the presence of HIV, a virus that has not been isolated. Rather these tests measure viral load and antibody response (and can test positive if you have the flu, are pregnant, or have just had a vaccine – hence the two tests taken several weeks apart).. There are people starving, they are obviously not adequately nourished, and instead of making sure that they can eat – drugs take priority (and companies like concern just keep pushing that appalling quality soy based muck and drugs approach rather than building self sustainability and organic farming)
I do not wish to detract from the seriousness of the problem, but something here reeks of fish..
have your say