ITALY – Victory for Meloni, the electoral reform is approved

ROME, Oct 8 /ATSH-ANSA/ – Italian MPs today approved the controversial reform of the electoral system, handing an important victory to the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The bill, which could have important consequences for Meloni’s political future, passed the final vote in the Chamber of Deputies with 227 votes in favour and 164 against.

Meloni had turned the reform, which was approved by the Senate in September, into a test of the support her government enjoys.

She had warned that the failure of the reform could lead to early elections.

Under the proposed system, any party that wins at least 42% of the votes will gain additional seats in parliament to secure a majority.

If it is a new coalition, it will receive 70 additional seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 35 additional seats in the Senate.

This would enable the political force that wins the elections to have the majority needed to govern, even if it has won less than 50% of the votes.

The government’s reasoning is that the majority bonus would help Italy avoid returning to governments that last only for short periods.

The three-party coalition led by Meloni is already the longest-serving government in Italy’s post-World War II history. It has been in power for almost four years.

“Whoever wins the elections must be able to govern, and whoever is elected must account to the voters who elected them,” Meloni wrote on the X network.

According to her, stable governments and greater citizen participation bring more continuity, accountability and ability to give Italians concrete answers.

The left-wing opposition accused Meloni of trying to create an advantage for her party, “Brothers of Italy”, which is a radical right-wing party.

The final vote was awaited with great interest. On Tuesday and Wednesday, three earlier confidence votes on individual articles of the electoral law were held by roll-call vote.

While the final vote was held by secret ballot. For this reason, the opposition hoped that some MPs of the governing coalition would not support the reform.

Meloni’s attempt to change the electoral law had failed in the first vote in July, despite her coalition having a stable majority in parliament.

However, the reform may still face objections in court.

According to reports, legal experts refer to earlier rulings of the Constitutional Court, which has blocked changes that could excessively distort the election result in favour of the winning force.

General elections in Italy must be held by the end of 2027.

However, after the approval of this reform, the possibility of early elections is now also being considered.