The Italian parliament on Thursday approved a series of sweeping reforms to the nation’s electoral laws spearheaded by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ahead of next year’s elections.
The reform package, known locally as the Stabilicum, changes Italian elections into a full proportional system that ensures further parliamentary stability for Italy, a nation known for decades’ worth of political instability prior to the start of the Meloni administration.
Prior to the new reform, and for the past 30 years, Italy utilized a hybrid voting system that saw about a third of parliament being chosen through a “first past the post” vote, and the rest through proportional representation.
The now-approved reform also contains provisions to award additional parliamentary seats to a party or coalition that obtains the largest share of votes in an election as long as said group exceeds a 42-percent vote threshold. The measure, proponents of the changes affirmed, would allow narrow victories to get a more “comfortable” stable majority in parliament.
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Additionally, Italian parties proposing to form a coalition government will be required to present a candidate for prime minister alongside his or her political program before any election.
Lawmakers approved the new reform through a secret ballot, with 227 votes in favor and 164 against.
Prime Minister Meloni celebrated the new reform’s approval on her social media. She detailed that, with the return of preferential voting after 30 years, Italians will once again be able to choose “everything, the party, the coalition, the platform, the prime ministerial candidate,” restoring citizens’ power to “directly choose who represents them.”
“At the same time, we are introducing rules designed to promote parliamentary stability and coherence for any government, regardless of its political affiliation. Because whoever wins the election must be able to govern, and whoever is elected must be accountable to the voters who chose them,” Meloni wrote.
“Stable governments and greater participation mean more continuity, more accountability, and a greater ability to provide concrete solutions for Italians,” she continued.
Meloni also described Thursday’s vote as a show of unity to those who “hoped to see the center-right divided.”
“Today we respond with actions: we are united, cohesive, and determined to carry out the commitments we have made to the citizens,” Meloni said, “Let’s keep moving forward.”
Italian leftist politicians and opponents of the reform have instead begun to refer to the changes as the Melonellum, in reference to Meloni — accusing the changes to be a “scam” and part of an alleged plot for the Italian prime minister and her Brothers of Italy party to “change the rules because they are afraid.” Italian opposition parties announced their intention to challenge the reform before the nations’s constitutional court.
Over the past four years, Meloni and her administration have led to a rare period of stability for Italy’s governance — a nation notoriously known for having gone through 31 different prime ministers and 68 different governments since 1946. Last month, Meloni became the longest-serving Prime Minister of Italy since World War II.
A previous attempt to modify the nation’s electoral system, also promoted by Meloni, failed to pass in July by a single vote. The outcome of the July parliamentary vote prompted Meloni to state, “We gave it a shot. The Swamp won again.”
Meloni had reportedly warned to her party and allies hours before Thursday vote that she could resign and trigger a snap election if the reform was rejected by parliament. As per Italian laws, new elections must take place next year at a date no later than December 22, 2027.
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