Italian democracy was "gamed" by government appeals not to vote in the five referenda on labour and citizenship rights that failed to reach a quorum, the leader of the CGIL trade union that proposed them, Maurizio Landini, said after their failure Monday.
He said that various government exponents, while urging citizens to snub the vote, had shown they did not know the content of the referenda.
Landini also said that the CGIL had asked fro the referenda to be held together with local elections, which would have assured them a quorum.
"Democracy is at stake here, not the CGIl," he said.
Some government officials said Landini should now do the "decent" thing and resign, like former premier Matteo Renizi who quit as premier after losing a Constitutional referendum in 2016.
