The Times shines a light on the constitutional reforms carried out by the Italian Prime Minister. “Giorgia Meloni plans to revise the Constitution to give greater powers to future Italian leaders, arguing that the current system leaves prime ministers prey to party plots”, writes the British newspaper.
Assault on the Constitution. The barter between the right to change the rules and bend democracy
by Stefano Cappellini
May 11, 2024
Starting from the speech against the premiership of Liliana Segre in the Senate, the article of Times – a political news report for the paper edition signed by the newspaper’s correspondent in Rome, Tom Kington – remember how the majority bonus rule “echoes a law introduced by Benito Mussolinithe fascist dictator to give himself more power”.
Liliana Segre’s full speech on the premiership, in the Senate
May 14, 2024
This is the Acerbo law, cited in a passage of the speech of the senator for life, introduced in 1923 by the fascist dictator, “before completely closing Parliament”, adds the Times who already in a portrait of the leader of the Brothers of Italy after the electoral victory, had formulated the question: Who is the real Meloni? The Duce’s heir or the future of Europe?
From Trezzano sul Naviglio (Milan), the secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein comments on the negative judgment given by the Times newspaper on the reform of the premiership: “We are strongly against the premiership, it is a system that does not exist anywhere in the world and there is a good reason, because it is a system that undermines the system of powers provided for in the Constitution”. And again: “It weakens Parliament, it weakens the President of the Republic and therefore we will continue to fight against this dangerous reform, which no longer gives democracy to citizens , but less – he adds – Democracy does not result in acclaiming a leader every five years who can then do whatever he wants for the following five”.
“Democracy is the power of citizens to influence the decisions of their representatives in Parliament for all those five years – concludes Schlein – who must not be elected in the wake of the head of government”.
