Giorgia Meloni is pressing ahead with an overhaul of Italy’s electoral system that Opposition parties have denounced as an “authoritarian” attempt to secure victory in next year’s general election.
In advance of a parliamentary debate due to start on Friday, the prime minister said the changes would ensure a stable government after years of political turmoil that plagued Italy before she came to power.
“Today we are seen as an anchor of stability in Europe; yesterday we were an unstable Italy in a more stable Europe,” Meloni told a public forum on Tuesday. “I certainly don’t want Italy to go back to being unstable.”
At the heart of the government’s proposal is a system of proportional representation, with the creation of an extra seats “majority prize” that will be awarded to the political coalition that wins most votes, allowing it to govern, even if it falls short of an outright majority.
To qualify for the bonus of up to 17.5 per cent of the seats in parliament, parties would have to run on a common platform and agree on a prime ministerial candidate – a nod to Meloni’s now-abandoned push to amend Italy’s post-fascist constitution and create a directly elected prime minister.
