The Italian Council of Ministers approved this Friday a constitutional reform bill that it wants to introduce the direct election of the prime minister by the voters to avoid continuous changes in the executive or technocratic governments, but which has the opposite opinion of the opposition.
The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, emphasized that in recent years, Italy has had nine prime ministers and 12 governments. “Either Italian politicians are worse than the French or the Germans, which I don’t think, or it’s the system that’s wrong,” he stressed.
Meloni detailed that the reform, which changes four articles of the Constitution, includes a rule that in the event of the resignation or motion of censure of a prime minister, the majority of parliamentarians can occupy the position by surpassing the vote of confidence, and it can only be done once.
Currently, Italians vote for political parties or coalitions, who then, depending on the results, propose the name of a possible prime minister to the President of the Republic, who accepts it and must undergo a vote of investiture in Parliament.
A year has passed since Giorgia Meloni’s election victory
The “premiere”
The reform, christened “premierate”, wants to force the country’s prime minister to be directly elected by voters to avoid the instability of 68 governments in 70 years or cases like executives guided by figures like Giuseppe Conte, a jury that came to the government in 2018 without standing for election. supported by the coalition between the 5 Star Movement and Salvini’s League.
Or executives assigned by the “technicians” of the head of state in troubled times, like the economist Mario Monti in 2011, to experience the economic crisis after the fall of Silvio Berlusconi, or more recently, between 2021 and 2022, by the former president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is the end of technocratic governments or rainbow executives,” stated Meloni.
The center-left opposition received this proposal with some doubts because they believe it threatens to weaken the powers of the head of state. To which Meloni replied that the President of the Republic “considers himself fully guaranteed” and that the reform does not affect his power.
The secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, has already announced that he will not support the bill, while from the +Europe party, Riccardo Magi, described it as “terrible” and accused Meloni of wanting turned Italy into Viktor Orban’s Hungary.
Meloni: “The word gets through the Italians.”
As it is a reform of the Constitution and, without the consent of two-thirds of the Parliament, to be approved, a popular referendum must be held.something to do if necessary, as confirmed by the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who stated that “the word gets through to the Italians.”
“Our goal is to guarantee that whoever is elected by the people can govern during a legislature,” said Meloni, who was described as “the mother of all reforms that can be done in Italy” and added that this is the only way that whoever is “elected in the polls will have a full legislature on the horizon, fulfill his project, and guarantee stability.”
The Government of Meloni has a large majority in Parliament, but not up to two-thirds, and all the opposition parties, except Italia Viva, expressed their opposition to the reform.
“I am very proud of this reform, and I hope that there will be great support from the Parliament or the Italians who will have a referendum. historic opportunity to lead the country to the “Third Republic.”
