—Complex approval process ahead, potential referendum risky for Meloni
By Silvia Marchetti
ROME (MaceNews) – Italy’s rightist prime minister Giorgia Meloni wants to pass a key constitutional reform to boost powers of the head of government with the possibility of introducing a US-style direct election of the country’s leader, according to ruling coalition sources.
It is still unclear how this will exactly pan out and what kind of political system will eventually be chosen.
“Political talks are under way with all parties and trade unions, we are debating over three options: a US-style presidential system with the direct election of a powerful head of state, a French-style semi-presidential system where the head of state is the head of government but picks a premier to carry out the agenda; or the direct election of the prime minister by Italian voters,” said an official.
The rightist cabinet wants to give Italy greater political stability, putting an end to the past 77 years of republican history which has seen the succession of 68 wobbly cabinets, almost one each year.
However, it will not be an easy job implementing such a significant reform to overhaul the constitution for the first time since 1948, when it was first introduced, especially since Meloni’s key ally, the League party, isn’t totally on board.
“Our core value is federalism, giving more powers to regions and local bodies,” said a League official. “The idea of a strong premier or head of state who concentrates in his hands all the power goes against our beliefs, so we need to discuss how to define a reform that satisfies everyone in the coalition,” the official said.
The League has an opposite goal: it wants parliament to adopt the so-called principle of ‘differentiated autonomy’ whereby decisions taken at regional and local level, or specific laws passed, can overrule national, centralized laws and measures that do not take into account the specific needs of a region, be it in health, education or transport.
Meloni dreams to blend the role of the head of state with that of the prime minister, following the US model, which would lead to scrapping either the institutional figure of the president or that of the premier, warned a member of the Democratic Party.
The opposition, from the Democrats to the Five Star Movement, is against any reform that would give too much centralized executive power in the hands of one single individual.
Currently, there is no direct election of either the president or the premier in Italy. The president of the republic is a politically neutral and ceremonial figurehead elected by parliament, while the premier is chosen between the parties that win the most votes at the elections. Italians vote for the party or the coalition, they do not name their preferred premier.
The process of approval of a constitutional reform is thorny and complex.
Even though Meloni’s coalition has the majority in both branches of parliament, it lacks the required ‘qualified’ majority of two-thirds needed to approve a reform that overhauls the constitution since the opposition is against it.
Parliament must approve the reform twice, and each time one branch makes a slight change, it must return to the other branch and be approved with that two-thirds majority threshold, explained the Democrat source.
Therefore, it is very likely that if parliament does not approve it with a majority of two-thirds, a referendum will ensue, as per Italian law, to allow Italians to express their view by voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to setting up such a powerful executive.
A 5 Stars Movement official argued that beginning this process would “hold the country captive” for at least a year, diverting it from addressing key challenges such as the economic crisis, and critically, how to speedily invest the European Union’s direct pandemic aid lest Italy loses the money.
“There are more pressing issues we need to deal with than getting stuck in this constitutional reform, which sounds a lot as having fascism nostalgia. The existing political system in Italy was designed under the postwar constitution after the demise of tyrant Benito Mussolini and his fascist party, with the goal of preventing any one party or political leader from seizing too much power again in future. We can’t risk running that risk again,” said the 5 Stars official.
Referendums do not fare well with Italians. In 2016 voters killed the constitutional reform aimed at scrapping the Senate during the tenure of then Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, putting an end to his leadership two years ahead of time.
“If Meloni ends up depending on Italians’ vote, and loses the referendum, it will mark her downfall,” said another Democrat.