Wanted by the head of government, but already contested, the constitutional reform to directly elect the head of government is examined at first reading by the Senate this week.
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In Italy, the one that Giorgia Meloni calls “the mother of all reforms” arrives before the Senate. His constitutional reform project provides for the direct election of the head of government. And it contains two objectives: to give more legitimacy to the President of the Council, the equivalent of the Prime Minister, today appointed according to the majority in Parliament, and more political stability to Italy. Constitutionalists are very skeptical and there is still a long way to go before adoption.
Since the post-war period, Italy has had 64 governments. To put an end to this waltz, the current President of the Council, Giorgia Meloni, proposes the direct election of the head of government on the same day as the legislative elections with a majority bonus for the lists of the Prime Minister candidate who comes first. It’s a paradigm shift according to constitutionalist Giulano Vigevani of Milan Bicoca University: “In a certain way, Parliament will depend on the government, and no longer the other way around. It is as if, in France, at the time of the presidential election, the winner had a guaranteed number of deputies,” he deciphers.
In summary, if the majority were to be torn apart, the only solution envisaged is the dissolution of Parliament. There would no longer be these majorities which recompose themselves during the mandate and result in governments with political options far removed from the initial vote of the voters. The system would gain clarity but lose flexibility. The reform must be adopted with a two-thirds majority, otherwise the opposition can request a referendum. This is the most probable and the most risky for Giorgia Meloni.
