An organization promoting an unofficial online referendum on the independence of Friuli says more than 4,000 people have voted in the first six days of the initiative. Res Publica Furlane group launched the vote on October 1st and the website will be open to votes until October 31st. After 2,700 people had cast their on-line ballots in the first three days, the group underlined that the final turnout could reach 30,000. The current pace could however leave the final figure closer to 20,000. Friuli has a population of almost one million.

The vote was first announced before the summer. In a Nationalia interview, referendum promoter Adriano Biason argued that Friulians needed to express their opinion on independence in the same year that self-determination referendums were scheduled in Scotland and Catalonia. Biason further said that the on-line vote was intended to mark the start of a "path [towards independence] outside the Italian institutions" through the principles of international law.

An new Friulian Parliament is also being chosen at the same time as the on-line vote on independence. This Parliament is intended to be an alternative to the current Regional Council of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, which referendum promoters blame for being subject to the interests of the Italian Republic.

Friulian Front dismisses on-line vote

Not everyone is happy with the vote, even among parties advocating independence for Friuli. This is the case of the Friulian Front, which distanced itself from the Res Publica Furlane initiative by saying that independence should be fought for "without kidding people with false targets." Unlike Res Publica Furlane, the Friulian Front believes independence can be achieved "gradually." A South Tyrol-inspired kind of federalism could be an intermediate step for that, according to the party. This proposal is similar to the one advanced by Province of Udine -the largest and most populous one in Friuli- President and Northern League member Pietro Fontanini.

Further information:

• Follow up on Nationalia: "Italy has for decades tried to delete Friuli"
• Friulian non-binding referendum website