The Council of Ministers on Friday, November 3, will resolve the final issues and then the constitutional reform will see the light of day to begin its long parliamentary process. From the news that was filtered the day before, refinements to the text issued by the majority summit last Monday cannot be excluded: the direct election of the Prime Minister, a majority premium of 55% and an “anti-reversion” rule are the characteristics protruding from the first position “‘Italian style” on the CDM table. Having confirmed the election “by universal and direct suffrage” of the Prime Minister supported by a coalition that would obtain the majority of seats in Parliament (even though this provision must be correlated with a new electoral law yet to be drafted), the doubts in the center- right – report parliamentary sources – mainly concerns the modification that prevents reversals and majority changes. The draft new article 94 of the Charter provides that, in the event of the resignation of a prime minister without confidence, the Head of State will only be able to assign a new position to the same prime minister elected at the polls or to a parliamentarian elected from of the lists linked to it, to “implement the declarations regarding the political orientation and programmatic commitments on which the Government of the elected President requested the confidence of the Chambers”. There are those who, starting with the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa and – it seems judging by the rumors – by the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni herself, would like this rule to be stricter, in order to encourage as much return to voting as possible in the event of government crisis: the most credible hypothesis is to reduce the power of the President of the Republic to appoint an alternative Prime Minister to a single occasion, to necessarily return to the polls in the event of a new vote of distrust and resignation. Technical governments led by personalities external to Parliament will certainly no longer be possible, just as the abolition of the appointment of senators for life (excluding former presidents) must be confirmed.
In any case, the text, currently consisting of just 5 articles, will be released on Friday, November 3rd. Another certainty is reiterated by Meloni: «Differentiated autonomy goes hand in hand with the prime minister, the two things go together» because, he explains, «today the great vulnerability is given by the fact that the regions have an authority and stability that the central government is missing, because the prime minister is not directly elected. If they want to give more powers to virtuous regions, they must have the right counterweights.” What filters the rumors in Transatlântico is that with the Budget law in the Senate, the Chamber is “free” to accept the first reading of the reform with the aim of complete by the European elections, and within a year there will be the second. Meanwhile, the autonomy bill process currently underway in the Senate will also have been completed and after the June elections there could be a change of chamber between the two measures , which at that time could move forward in parallel as always expected by the Melões. “We are committed to introducing the direct election of the prime minister to provide stability to governments and coherence between the vote and the governments themselves, based on the models that exist in all Western countries”, says the Minister of Relations with Parliament, Luca Ciriani, while Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini assures: “Tomorrow in the CDM we will give the green light, then the parliamentary debate and then the referendum. If the majority changes, we vote again: it seems to me that the popular vote is respected.” In addition to the leader of Italia Viva Matteo Renzi, who in any case seems prudent (“Yes to the mayor of Italy, but no to messes”), the other oppositions remain against: the post of prime minister, says the secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein, “it is a proposal that undermines the parliamentary republic, weakens the prerogatives of the President of the Republic and disempowers Parliament”.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
