In Case You Missed it: Italian Politics Edition

Research evidence excerpt

In Case You Missed it: Italian Politics Edition

UpdateMthe amendment does not have an impact on the passing of the broader electoral

law (i.e. Stabilicum). In fact, on 16 July the Lower House approved the full Stabilicum

bill in the first reading. However, the defeat of the amendment still came at a

political cost for the current government, as it pointed to an internal fracture of the

government coalition. The vote count resulting from the secret ballot showed that

likely more than 30 MPs within the government’s coalition voted against the

amendment promoted by PM Meloni. In some ways, this week’s developments raise

investor questions around the ability to change the electoral law, the government’s

stability and risks of early elections.

The approval of the legislative text is far from complete. As with any other ordinary

law, changes to the electoral law have to go through Italy’s system of perfect

bicameralism. The Lower House and Senate must approve exactly the same

legislative text. If any amendments are made to the electoral law in the Senate, the

text will have to return to the Lower House and the approval process will need to

be repeated in full. This “shuttle” continues until both houses have approved

identical wording. Once both houses have approved the same legislative text, then

the president of the Republic can promulgate the law.

Going forward, the government must therefore decide whether to seek Senate

approval of the version of the bill already passed by the Lower House, hence trying

to complete the process quickly, or accommodate possible demands for changes

and risk a longer approval process. It thus remains to be seen whether the

government can secure approval of the final legislative text before the autumn. A