ITALY’S constitutional court has fired the starting pistol for the next general election. On January 25th the judges struck down key provisions of the electoral law for the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house, as unconstitutional. In doing so, they have increased the likelihood of an early election. But how long will the race last? That depends on whether the president, Sergio Mattarella, decides to push parliament to adopt a new system or make do with the current legal mess.
The constitutional wrangle has its origins in the failed attempt by the former prime minister, Matteo Renzi, to engineer stable majorities in a country that has known 66 governments since 1945. There were two pillars to his scheme. One was to reduce the powers of the Senate, the powerful upper house, by turning it into an indirectly elected assembly of regional and municipal appointees. The other was to introduce a new electoral law for the lower house in 2015. Known as the Italicum, it gave the party that won more than 40% of the vote a generous portion of extra seats to ensure it controlled 54% of parliament. If no party reached the threshold, a run-off ballot would be held...Continue reading
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