Referendum, the people have spoken. Now it's up to the parties to understand what they said.

A shouted No, which perhaps transcends the merits of the question that was posed, given the wide margin between the two sides. A mass vote and not just among a few insiders, a return to the polls that serves as a temporal buoy for the country, clearly marking the boundary between a before and an after the referendum. Because there will be remnants along the path of the center-right majority, beyond unlikely immediate shocks in the government and instead possible rebalancing within the majority and the individual parties that are part of it. And because it requires the broad field to accelerate not so much on consolidating alliances but on drafting a real program and designing the profile of a potential leader for everyone, if it still wants to celebrate in autumn 2027 or already in the next spring: the seasons of politics are as unpredictable as the weather these days.

The firm points of this vote, then.

It had been said that the chances of success for the Yes were directly proportional to the voter turnout, instead it happened exactly the opposite: the more people went to vote, the more the wave of No grew, until it became an avalanche. This time it is not the fault of the pollsters, not just them, but especially of those who did not realize that the citizens are the true guardians of the Constitution, who do not want it to be hacked at with a machete, much less by a political class that is light-years away from the credibility of the founding fathers. And it should also be emphasized that the age group most sensitive on this point has been the younger one, who may know little about the founding values of the Republic but evidently does not follow the lexicon of those in power. That a justice reform is needed, that there cannot be enclaves impervious to scandals and mistakes, is another matter.

Second incontrovertible point: the vote captures a two-faced Sicily because in light of the black jersey for voter turnout, it follows the “ ” in voting, with Bulgarian peaks of No in Palermo, second only to Naples.

And this happens due to a possible summation: the strength of memory, because here judges are killed and it is certainly difficult to imagine them as a "firing squad" (quote); the weakness of those who waved the reasons for Yes, speaking only to the camel troops, not reaching the varied world that does not move in the corridors of the Palaces and in the comfort zone of the secretariats. Let it be a warning to Palermo as well as to Rome, where the electoral law reform will touch another sore spot.

Finally, the data regarding who won, the No front: they sing “Bella Ciao”, they evoke the Resistance, but, as mentioned, one thing is a referendum where the gut also has a specific weight, another is an election, where one measures up on program, lists, and names. And then: does the “broad field” or whatever it will be called, know who it is addressing? Does it know that in the peripheries the turnout has not surged as it does when they become the realm of the runners and the Caf where promises are distributed in equal measure to shopping vouchers? That’s why only the first half of the game has been played on Justice. We will see, after the very brief intermission, who will change formation or tactics.