Italy approves draft new electoral law criticized by the opposition

Na Senate where the right-wing and far-right coalition led by Meloni enjoys a comfortable majority, the text was approved with 113 votes in favour, 71 against and two abstentions, and should now return to the House of Representatives for the third parliamentary reading.

The bill provides that the current system, a mixture of the simple majority system with proportional representation, is replaced by a proportional representation system, with the novelty of introducing a parliamentary seat bonus for the coalition that gets the most votes, provided it reaches a threshold of 42%.

According to the text, the coalition that reaches 42% of the votes in both chambers will be entitled to 70 deputies and 35 additional senators, although the bill sets a maximum limit of 220 deputies and 113 senators.

If no coalition achieves this power, or if votes for the Lower House and the Senate produce different results, a purely proportional system will be used.

According to the parties of the Government – Brothers of Italy, of Giorgia Meloni (partido (post-fascist), Força Italia, Antonio Tajani (right), and Liga, of Matteo Salvini (extreme right) – the new law aims to guarantee operational majorities in parliament, so that executives are stronger and more stable, in a country where, as a rule, governments do not reach the end of the legislature.

The opposition, however, is unanimous in considering that the new electoral law, proposed by Meloni's executive on the eve of new legislative elections, aims only and only to disproportionately benefit the conservative coalition and increase the chances of remaining in power.

Legislation is set for next year, but still no date.

Pointing out that the 42% threshold included in the bill coincides precisely with the percentage that is attributed to the current government majority in the polls for next year's elections, the deputies considered that the parliamentary seat bonus system is unconstitutional, having displayed posters with the message "No to the Fraud Act", during the vote in the Senate.

The new law, to be confirmed, will also give voters the option to express preferences for up to three candidates among six on a party list, in which the candidates' names must alternate according to gender.

This novelty is also criticized by the opposition, according to which this gives rise to “false preferences”, since the first on the list would always be “blocked”, arguing that this would also constitute a setback for equality, because, in theory, it is possible that all the first on the list are men.

The current system does not give voters any opportunity to express preferences over which of the candidates on a party list want to represent them.

The bill will be voted in the House of Representatives on 28 September.

Giorgia Meloni became this month the leader of the government with the greatest longevity in 80 years of Italy's history, but re-election is far from assured in the 2027 legislatures.

Meloni remains popular in Italy and can now claim to be a guarantee of very rare stability on the Italian political scene, where on average governments last 13 months, but the upcoming elections promise to be a major challenge.

In addition to the fact that the centre-left is gaining strength, packed by some triumphs in local elections and the victory achieved a few months ago in a major referendum on the reform of the justice sector with the rejection of the government proposal, this year emerged, even more to the right of the Brothers of Italy, a new radical party, National Future, which threatens to fracture the electorate of the three parties currently in power.

The latest polls anticipate very balanced elections, with both coalitions on the right and left, with very close results, even though Meloni's party continues to lead comfortably, with 27% of voting intentions, about six points ahead of the main opposition party, the Democratic Party (socialist, centre-left), with 21%.