Italy holds a referendum on citizenship and workers' rights, but the government opposes it.

 Italians are voting on Sunday and Monday on a referendum to ease citizenship rules and strengthen labor laws, while the government of Giorgia Meloni opposes both changes and calls on citizens to boycott the vote.

Under current law, every adult non-EU resident who is not married or has blood ties to Italy must live in the country for 10 years before they can apply for citizenship, which can take years to obtain.

This referendum, initiated by a grassroots campaign led by NGOs, aims to reduce this period to five years, as is the case in Germany and France.

Campaign organizers say that around 2.5 million people could benefit from this reform, which is supported by the center-left Democratic Party.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni strongly opposes the referendum, while her far-right Brothers of Italy party has prioritized curbing illegal immigration, even as it increases the number of legal work visas for migrants.

Meloni said on Thursday that the current system is "an excellent law, one of the most open, in the sense that for years we have been one of the European countries that grants the highest number of citizenships each year."

More than 213,500 people acquired Italian citizenship in 2023, double the number in 2020 and one-fifth of the total in the European Union, according to the bloc's statistics.

More than 90% of them were from outside the EU, most of them from Albania and Morocco, as well as Argentina and Brazil, two countries with large Italian immigrant communities.

Meloni and her coalition partners agreed in March to limit the right to citizenship to people with blood ties to Italy for four to two generations.

Meloni and her coalition partners have encouraged voters to boycott the referendum, which will only be valid if 50% plus one of eligible voters participate.

Even if this reform is passed, it will not affect immigration law, which many consider unfair. Children born in Italy to foreign parents cannot apply for citizenship until they turn 18.

Under the Italian Constitution, a referendum can be held based on a petition signed by at least 500,000 voters.

This week's vote includes one question on citizenship and four others on increasing protection for employees, particularly against precarious contracts and dismissal.

The left-wing CGT is pushing for these changes.

"We want to reverse a culture that prioritizes the interests of companies over those of workers," CGT Secretary General Maurizio Landini told AFP.

The Democratic Party also supports these reforms, despite having previously championed some of the laws the CGT wants repealed while in power.

The proposals specifically target measures included in the "Jobs Law," passed before the government of Democratic Party Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, to liberalize the labor market.

Supporters say the law has boosted employment opportunities, but critics say it has made work more dangerous.

Currently, the Democratic Party, which polls at around 23%, trails Meloni's Fertelli d'Italia, which has 30% according to a SWG poll this week, and is seeking to attract working-class voters by supporting the referendum reform.