Finale Abstimmung: Grünes Licht für Melonis umstrittenes neues Wahlrecht

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni successfully brought the controversial new electoral law to a final vote in Parliament, securing the future of her government. The reform passed in the lower house of Parliament with a final tally of 227 to 164. The Senate had already approved the proposal in mid-September. The decision had been eagerly anticipated, as Meloni had made the reform a litmus test for her government, warning that failure would have consequences.

The three previous confidence votes on individual articles of the electoral law were taken by name on Tuesday and Wednesday, but this final vote was secret. The opposition hoped for defectors from the ruling coalition. Meloni had failed in July with the new electoral law, as her coalition of three right-wing and conservative parties in Parliament had a solid majority, meaning that some of its members had to vote against it.

Meloni had stated in advance that failure would entail unspecified consequences, with the possibility of early elections being speculated. The focus was on the so-called majority bonus, which Meloni hoped to implement so that the winner of a parliamentary election would receive a majority bonus if they received 42 percent of the votes, leading to additional seats in both the lower and upper houses of Parliament.

Meloni's reform aims to establish stable majorities and long-term governments with a clear political orientation. Stable majorities would reduce the frequency of government changes since Italy has had 70 governments since the end of the war. The coalition with Meloni has now been in power for nearly four years. The electoral law is officially called "Stabilicum," but some call it "Melonellum" because it seems to be designed to maintain the ruling prime minister's position.

The left opposition accuses Meloni of wanting to give a boost to herself, her right-wing party Fratelli d'Italia, and the coalition as a whole. Opposition politician Riccardo Magi of the Più Europa party even went on a hunger strike in protest against certain aspects of the new electoral law, according to his own account. The impact of the reform on the next election is uncertain, as both Meloni's coalition and the center-left coalition are currently almost equally strong, with slightly more than 42 percent support.

However, the approval for the two smaller coalition partners, Lega and Forza Italia, is declining. If a party or coalition were to fall below the 42 percent threshold in an election, seats could be allocated based on the proportional system, leading to a fragmented government. A potential factor could be the far-right political figure Roberto Vannacci and his newly founded Futuro Nazionale party, which polled around eight percent and saw its candidate get around eleven percent last in the post-election in Calabria.

The government officially ends in autumn 2027, but a premature election is also being discussed, possibly in combination with the municipal elections in numerous cities and towns in the coming spring. There are also constitutional concerns, as the Italian Constitutional Court could potentially intervene and halt the reform, particularly over the majority bonus.

Constitutional lawyers point to previous court rulings that have prohibited an excessive distortion of the vote in favor of the election winner.