First yes from the Senate to the constitutional reform bill which provides for the direct election of the Prime Minister. The votes in favor were 109, 77 against, with one abstention. The text now passes to the Chamber for the second of the four planned readings.
The session of the assembly dedicated to the explanations of vote and the final vote on the constitutional reform bill no. began at around 3.30 pm in the Chamber. 935 which establishes the so-called “premiership”. The presence of the government majority is massive to allow the “mother of all reforms” to get through to Palazzo Madama (remember that the majority in the Senate covers 115 seats, 12 more than the absolute majority).
The Minister for Institutional Reforms and Regulatory Simplification, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellatithe Minister for Relations with Parliament, Luca Cirianiand the Minister for Civil Protection, Nello Musumeci, are sitting at the government benches. The President of the Senate presides over the session. Ignazio La Russa.
The text of the bill has been modified several times, but a new electoral law is still missing.
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The President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa in the Senate chamber during the explanations of vote on the premiership bill, 18 June 2024
The political contrast between the majority and the opposition was strong during the voting days. There was a near-fight in the Senate during the examination of the bill on the premiership. The President of the Senate had to suspend the session
As Giorgia Melonifin the wake of the electoral result, the majority approves the bill on the premiership in the Senate, at first reading, and accelerates the bill on autonomy in the Chamber: thus respecting what the leader of the League group at Palazzo Madama, Massimiliano Romeo, once again defines as “a political agreement” between parties of the same government coalition and not “an electoral exchange”. But without any particular chaos. Also because, as the president of Palazzo Madama observed at the opening of the proceedings, Ignazio La Russa, the session is broadcast live on TV and therefore he “does not expect any disruptive actions”. The only note of ‘colour’ is that of the centre-left parliamentarians who, immediately after the vote, wave the volumes of the Constitution in the air. Promptly imitated by those of the centre-right who, in addition to books, also wave small tricolor flags. Then, after the approval of the text, greeted with long applause and defined by the prime minister Giorgia Meloni a “first step forward that strengthens democracy”, all the senators take to the streets. Those of the opposition to Santi Apostoli, to harangue the crowds in view of the referendum; those of brothers of Italy in San Luigi of the French to give life to what they call a flashmob, complete with a banner with the words: “end of the palace games – with this reform the Italians will decide” and with the national anthem sung at the top of their lungs in front of photographers and cameras. “The train has left and there is no turning back” comments the minister for reforms Elisabetta Casellatiwho at the government benches this time finds himself in the company of many government representatives including the deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini. “Great satisfaction” is expressed by the president of the constitutional affairs commission Alberto Balboni which reiterates that in order to have at least a draft of the new electoral law, we will have to wait for the first reading, i.e. also the green light from the Chamber, where the bill will now be transmitted.
The objective of the reform is to avoid reversals”
Giorgia Meloni
The climate in Montecitorio was more heated and at the same time approved, with a 53-vote margin, the reversal of the proceedings in the chamber to approve differentiated autonomy as soon as possible. The session, during which the opposition obstructed with rapid-fire interventions, was interrupted to allow the center-left to be in the streets. A “lost time” that is being made up for in the night session. Fi, meanwhile, presents 4 agendas to set his ‘goals’ for the reform that is about to become state law. “You may like it or not – the minister cuts short Roberto Calderoli – but we are implementing the Constitution”. The opposition has an opposite opinion, branding both reforms as “dangerous”. Starting with the premiership. In the Senate, starting with the m5s group leaders Stefano Patuanelli and avs Peppe de Cristofaro, there is a great deal of the referendum is a possibility. A hypothesis that doesn’t seem to scare La Russa too much (“it wouldn’t be anything dramatic”). Even if he then adds that, “from now until the end of the 4 scheduled votes” for the constitutional bills, “everything is possible.” “. At the moment, however, even Action and Italia Viva, on whose votes the majority continues to hope, are pointing the finger at the bill, with Carlo Calenda who also says he is worried about the “political consequences” and with the Renzian Enrico Borghi who brands it a “disappointing patch”. “more people and less palace” is the summary given by the Fi group leader of the text Maurizio Gasparriwhile the dem Francesco Boccia speaks of “power bulimia” on the part of the majority. “It’s a party today, let’s not spoil the atmosphere”, replies Marcello Pera (Fdi) to those who ask him if he is satisfied with the text on the premiership as it is.
How to approve a constitutional reform law
Two resolutions will be necessary by both chambers, at least three months apart. If in the second vote both chambers approve the law with a majority of 2/3 of their respective members (qualified majority), the text will be considered definitively approved. Otherwise the law will have to be subjected to a popular referendum and this scenario, according to this government’s numbers, is highly probable.
