Italian voters have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the four referendums. Not only did the turnout reach 57 per cent of the electorate, well over the necessary quorum of 50 per cent plus one vote, but the votes in favour of the referendums reached over 94.5 per cent in all four cases.

Italians have therefore voted resoundingly against the government's programme for the construction of nuclear sites, against further privatization of water distribution and its pricing and against the law which allowed the prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, to plead a