Italy’s government speaks of the “mother of all reforms”: It is planning a constitutional change that will weaken parliament and the president – in favor of the prime minister.
This reform, says Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni herself, is her most important to date. It is a reform that is intended to overhaul Italy’s constitution at a central point – and would give her more power as head of government in the future.
In a video message, Meloni says the goal of the planned constitutional change is “to give the Italians a stable and credible government that fully reflects the will of the people.” And she adds: “It is the mother of all reforms.”
“Executive becomes the true center of the system”
The most important point is that the Prime Minister (Meloni uses the male form for her office) should in future be elected directly by the people. If the MPs overthrow the head of government through a vote of no confidence, he should be able to demand the dissolution of parliament and new elections in the future. It would be an important tool to keep parliament in check.
Andrea Pertici from the University of Pisa, one of Italy’s leading constitutional lawyers, fears that the planned reform will create a strong imbalance: “Because the importance of the parliament, the legislature, with its guarantees and its pluralism, will be sacrificed in order to strengthen the executive.” This would then become the true center of the system.
Pertici fears that the president, who has previously been a kind of referee in times of crisis, will no longer be a counterweight to the government in the future. “The reform also gives rise to concern because it limits the role of the President, who is traditionally very important in Italy as a balancing regulator in the system.”
Opposition to Meloni’s plans
The opposition is against Meloni’s planned constitutional change. The chairwoman of the social democratic PD, Elly Schlein, warns: “In fact, this reform dismantles the parliamentary republic as we have known it so far.”
Despite resistance from the opposition, the government majority has already pushed the constitutional amendment through the Chamber of Deputies. The reform is now in the Senate, the second chamber of parliament. Last week she cleared the hurdle in the Constitutional Affairs Committee. Everything is ready for a vote in the plenary session.
Stability as an argument
Meloni promises: Her constitutional change will make Italy a more stable democracy because the prime minister can no longer be so easily overthrown by changing majorities in parliament. The often short lifespan of Italian governments has made Italy “little credible” internationally. “Nobody wanted to make agreements with us. Because every time you sat down with a representative of the Italian government, it was a different one.”
Constitutional lawyer Pertici points out that the average lifespan of Italian governments has increased significantly since the beginning of the Second Republic in 1994. Above all, stability is not a democratic self-esteem. “It is good when a government is stable when it works well. But it is a problem when it is difficult to send a government home when it works poorly,” argues Pertici.
Even if Meloni is currently pushing ahead in parliament, in the end she will probably have to face a referendum on her constitutional amendment. In Italy it is stipulated that a constitutional change only takes effect immediately with a two-thirds majority in parliament, otherwise the opposition can demand a referendum on the reform.
In the past, this has been a tricky hurdle for heads of government. Most recently, then Prime Minister Matteo Renzi failed in 2016 with a referendum on a constitutional change he wanted – and then had to resign.
Jörg Seisselberg, ARD Rome, tagesschau, April 15, 2024 1:08 p.m