The opposition's assault on the government has failed and the government has been strengthened by the failure of five referenda on labour and citizenship rights to reach a quorum, Deputy Premier, Foreign Minister and centre-right post Berlusconi Forza Italia (FI) party leader Antonio Tajani said Monday.
"First of all, great respect for those who went to vote because it is always a form of participation in the referendum," Tajani told Tg1.
"Having said that, it was a defeat for the Left and the opposition that wanted to attempt an assault on the government using the crowbar of the referendums.
"It went badly, the government has been strengthened, the opposition has been weakened".
He added that rules on referenda should be changed to make it harder to hold them, for example by raising the number of signatures required to call them.
