On Sunday 11 November in Rome we will vote for the referendum on the tendering of the Capitoline public service, better known as the Atac referendum, in what appears to be the least publicized and well-known consultation in the history of Italy. Nobody – apart from the promoters, of course – talks about it and there is no certainty about what will happen during and after. What is certain, however, is that for the Romans it is a date to be marked in red on the calendar, perhaps even adding an underline to highlight it even more because it is an appointment which (theoretically) would have the possibility of influencing one of the worst problems Rome has been facing in recent years: public transport.
The purpose of the referendum is in fact to ask the citizens to say Yes or No to the tendering of the service, thus removing the monopoly of its management from the hands of Atac to place it in those of other subjects who could manage it in a different and (hopefully) more efficient way. It must be emphasized, however, that it is an advisory referendum and therefore the Campidoglio is not obliged to respect the outcome of the vote, even if, in the event of a victory for Yes, the political repercussions would be evident.
ROME: HOW IS ATAC?
Atac has often been described as "the big sick one" among the Capitoline public subsidiaries. In recent months, the vicissitudes of the local public transport company led by Paolo Simioni have landed on the front pages of all the national newspapers due to the numerous vicissitudes of which the company is the protagonist: from the continuous comings and goings of senior managers to breakdowns and to the fires that have affected the metro and buses, from the countless staff strikes to the accounts in the deep red, not to mention the daily disservices that make users angry.
The collapse of the budget in particular has been at the center of national interest: Atac has 1,3 billion euros in debt which he cannot cope with. For this reason, the Municipality has requested and obtained access to the procedure for the company preventive agreement in continuity which avoided the immediate bankruptcy of the company. A corporate restructuring plan has been presented and the payment orders of creditors and suppliers have been blocked which, according to the provisions of the agreement, will be repaid only in part and only later.
It is also important to underline that, in order to allow Atac to restructure itself, the Municipality extended the service contract from 2019 to 2021.
ATAC REFERENDUM: WHEN YOU VOTE AND WHO CANOR VOTE
After a series of postponements the date of the referendum was set for Sunday 11 November. There will be 12 hours of time to vote: from 8.00 in the morning to 20.00. The counting will begin immediately after the polls close, therefore the outcome of the referendum could be announced already during the night. Citizens registered in the electoral lists of Rome Capital have the right to vote, but also those who belong to one of the categories envisaged by theart. 6 of the Statute provided that they specifically registered between 1 October and 31 December of the year preceding that in which the referendums are held. According to the art. 6 will also be able to vote:
- citizens not resident in Rome who enjoy the rights of active electorate and carry out their main work activity there;
- non-resident students in Rome who carry out their proven study activity in schools or universities;
- foreigners who have completed eighteen years of age, legitimately present in the national territory and residing in Rome or having their domicile there for study or work reasons.
To vote, you will need to show your ID and electoral card at your polling station.
ROME, ATAC REFERENDUM: THE QUESTIONS
Upon arrival at the polling station, each voter will receive two cards of different color, one for each question. Under the questions there will be two rectangles with the words YES / NO inside on which to put the appropriate X.
Il first question reads: "Do you want Roma Capitale to entrust all the services relating to local public transport on the surface and underground or on road and rail through public tenders, also to a plurality of operators and guaranteeing forms of comparative competition, in compliance with the legislation in force at safeguarding and relocating workers in the service restructuring phase?».
Il second instead asks: «Do you want Rome Capital, without prejudice to the services relating to local public transport on the surface and underground or on road and rail in any case entrusted, to also favor and promote the exercise of non-scheduled collective transport in the local area to companies operating in competition? ».
ROME, ATAC REFERENDUM: THEREIS IT A QUORUM? PERHAPS…
The controversies that have been focusing on this referendum for months have also affected the quorum. The two fronts "in battle" - the Capitol on one side and the Radicals on the other - are in fact not in agreement on which rules should be applied.
In fact, up until a few months ago, the Rome Statute provided for a quorum of33% of those entitled. The Capitol, however, just this year, changed the Statute, also eliminating the quorum. Despite this, for the Municipality in this case the "previous legislation that provides for a quorum" applies, while for the Radicals the new one applies.
ROME, WHO VOTES YES AND WHYÉ
As mentioned, in favor of Yes there are the Radicals and the "Let's mobilize Rome" movement who are also the subjects who promoted the referendum by collecting the necessary 30 signatures. In fact, according to them: "After years of inefficiencies, waste and patronage logic, finally by voting yes we will be able to put an end to the Atac monopoly and put the public transport service out to tender, with one or more companies, under the direct control of the municipality of Rome which for example, it will continue to establish the ticket price and the necessary routes for each district. In the current conditions of Atac, failed in practice, any other proposal would be unfeasible and would lead to the sale of the service to a single private individual. Those who say no to this referendum claim that they want to keep the "public" company, but the only public in Atac is the debt and the continuous discomfort of citizens", explains the yes committee on the website Let's mobilize Rome. It should be emphasized that the promoters have peremptorily ruled out that the objective of the referendum is to privatize Atac.
In favor of Yes, after having carried out a consultation among its members, there is also the Roman Democratic Party. “If I were a citizen of Rome, I would vote in favor of the referendum proposed by the Radicals, that is, against Virginia Raggi's reckless management of public transport. It is not possible that in Rome the buses burn on time, that the Atac service is so insufficient. And the responsibility lies with the shareholder, the Municipality of Rome”. These are Matteo Renzi's statements contained in a video posted on Facebook.
ROME, ATAC REFERENDUM: WHO VOTES NO AND WHYÉ
To take sides in favor of No is the Roman 5 Star Movement: “The Movimento 5 Stelle Roma invites you to vote no. It is falsely believed that putting public transport to tender with the possible entry of other operators” will bring “greater efficiency, but it is not so. The city suffers from an infrastructural deficit” and “we are working to resolve this issue”, said the president of the Transport Commission Enrico Stefano (M5S).
He expressed his public support for the No too John Alemanno: “I will vote no in the referendum. It is based on the misunderstanding that Atac doesn't work because it is public. It's not like that,” the former mayor of Rome declared on the microphones of Radio Cusano Campus.
On the other hand, there was no official statement from the mayor of Rome Virginia Raggi who, however, has repeatedly underlined her willingness to keep Atac public.
ROME, ATAC REFERENDUM: WHAT IF THE YES WINS? WHAT IF THE NO WINS?
The referendum is consultative and therefore in case of victory of the Yes it is not automatic that the Capitoline public transport will be put out to tender. Consultation serves to provide a very precise indication of what the will of the citizens is. Simply put, if the Yes wins, the pentastellata administration could legitimately ignore the result of the referendum, even if politically he would find himself in great difficulty, considering also that the 5 Stars of "direct democracy" have been their basic principle for years.
Taking an example of what happened elsewhere, the one on Brexit was also a consultative referendum, but the UK government has decided to respect the will expressed by the citizens by pursuing the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU.
