The final battle over the new electoral law, the Italicum, begins today in the Montecitorio hall, the outcome of which will also decide the fate of the Renzi government. The prime minister is determined to bring home the final approval of the Italicum without amending it further and without postponing it to yet another examination by the Senate. This is why he is ready for a vote of confidence, which could be requested three or four times during the examination of the reform measure.
The oppositions, both internal and external to the Democratic Party, however, threaten the barricades. Yesterday both the former secretary of the Democratic Party Pierluigi Bersani and the former group leader in the Chamber, Roberto Speranza, fired at zero against Renzi and against the possible recourse to trust. The premier replies to them by saying that the country has been waiting for 9 years for a new electoral law to retire the Porcellum, that the Italicum has already been amended several times, and above all that it is a fundamental principle of democracy even within the Democratic Party that a line approved by an overwhelming majority by the governing bodies can be applied and must also be respected in Parliament.
Among the oppositions this time Forza Italia will also line up, which will overturn its positions in the Senate where it had approved the Italicum.
The first crucial test for the Italicum will take place tomorrow when the constitutionality rulings on the Italicum will be put to the vote, to neutralize which the Government could trust for the first time.
The heat of the battle will then enter next week when the current regulations cease to exist and it will be possible to limit the times available to each group.
Renzi does not rule out placing the request for confidence three or four times. But he was very clear about the future: if the Chamber rejects the Italicum, the Government falls and goes home. This is why the Italicum is, especially in the middle of the electoral campaign for the regional elections at the end of May, a real referendum on Renzi and his government.
Here is the text of the letter sent by Renzi to the Circles of the Democratic Party:
Dear comrades, dear friends, dear friends, dear democrats,
I am writing to you leaders of our party circles at a delicate moment in the country's institutional life.
After years of crisis and austerity, Italy is finally starting to get back on track. The European rules are changing, also thanks to the fact that the PD was the most voted party in Europe. Thousands of people see their precarious work transformed into a contract with increasing protections and finally know the meaning of words like mortgage, holidays, rights. The measures on the economy – from 80 euros to the de-contribution for new hires – are prompting many sectors to restart and the forecasts for the coming months are finally positive (thanks also to events such as Expo which we have cleaned up because we deeply believe that it will be a great opportunity for Italy and an opportunity for global discussion on issues such as the fight against hunger and poverty).
We are working hard on justice: thanks to the work of the PD, the Anti-Corruption Authority was finally born, the crime of self-laundering was introduced, the civil liability of magistrates, more serious rules for pre-trial detention. And in a few weeks the new rules on corruption (harder sentences, more difficult prescription), on false accounting, on environmental crimes, on apartment burglaries will be law. A new season of rights has opened, after years of hesitation: from short-term divorce to the law on the third sector, passing through the parliamentary discussion on citizenship and civil unions.
The digital revolution will lead the tax authorities and public administration to change pace, ceasing to be counterparts of users, but finally consultants and friends of the citizen. The e-invoicing, the pre-filled declaration, the upcoming unique pin proves that we really can make this country easier and more efficient. This is why the largest infrastructure we are working on is the digital one, the ultra-broadband network. But let's not forget the need to secure the works left unfinished by a bureaucracy that has seen lawyers work more than engineers in public procurement: this is why the procurement code, for example, is essential to give clear rules and bring about completion jobs. And that's why we have unlocked the works against hydrogeological instability.
The real challenge, however, concerns the possibility of returning to investing in human capital. On research, on innovation, on sustainable cities. And it all starts with school. Our bill - developed after a months-long listening campaign - can still be improved. We are open and ready to listen. But one point must be clear: the choice of autonomy is decisive. It means that the school must not be in the hands of ministerial circulars and trade unions, but of teachers, families, students. Thanks to the choices made by the Democratic Party in Parliament, for the first time in years there will be more money for schools and school building, there will be new recruitment and competitions will be held again, teachers will have more resources for their training, the merit will have to be evaluated in a timely manner and from kindergartens to the right to study, the education system will be fairer.
We are doing this at a difficult time. A wave of protest is spreading in Europe which is strong in all countries, starting with Le Pen's France. In Italy this demagogic challenge hinges on two forces, not just one: Salvini's League, Grillo's Five Stars. The Democratic Party has been a barrier to this drift, thanks to the decision to make the reforms that have been awaited for years on which other governments have, however, stopped and bogged down in the past. Institutional and constitutional reforms are the symbol of this battle. There are those who contest the system and those who propose to change it: we are this change, possible and necessary.
The Italians gave us credit. We were at 25% in 2013, we passed to 41% in 2014. In one year we have increased the consensus incredibly. We won five out of five regions in 2014: one was Emilia Romagna, we wrested the other four from the centre-right. We are today the political force that can restore hope and pride to Italy. But we can't do melina. We cannot aim to stay here just to keep the seat: we are in the government to serve Italy, changing it. We will never get used to the swamp of those who would like to postpone, postpone, postpone.
This is why the electoral law that goes to the House tomorrow becomes decisive. Not only because it is a serious law, in line with our party's previous proposals. But also because not approving the electoral law now would mean blocking the reform path of this legislature. And it would mean saying that the Democratic Party is not the force that changes the country, but the party that blocks change. It would be the greatest gift to populists. But it would also be the greatest gift to the many who believe in the power of technicians: those who think that the word politics is a dirty word and must rely on the alleged specialists who have brought us here, before the arrival of the PD government.
On the merits, the electoral law is modeled on the basis of the mayors' experience. Whoever wins rules for five years. A ballot is expected. The prize goes to the list to prevent smaller parties from splitting from the day after the elections and vetoing them. Approximately half of the seats are attributed to candidates representing the constituency (constituency candidate, no longer blocked lists as in the porcellum) and the other half with preferences (maximum two, one woman and one man). You can always do better, please. But this law scraps the Porcellum of the kilometric blocked lists with unknown candidates and the Consultellum which so closely resembles the pure proportional system of the first republic, imposing mess-ups and broad agreements.
The PD wanted this law. We called it an urgency and now we should stop? We proposed it in the December 2013 primaries, with two million people voting for it. We reiterated it at the first meeting in Milan. We voted it in direction in January 2014. We voted it, modified on the basis of the first requests of the internal minority, in the House in March 2014. We modified it again in agreement with the whole majority and we voted it to the Senate in January 2015. We brought it back to the national direction and voted it. Then we had a meeting of deputies and we voted for it once again. We voted for it in the Commission and we are now at the third reading in the Chamber, in a parliamentary confrontation that was punctual, continuous and respectful.
I ask you: is it really a dictatorship of those who ask to respect the will of the vast majority of our members, of our parliamentarians, of our management team? Is it really so absurd to ask that after 14 months of parliamentary dialogue we can finally close this law whose political value we all know? Does it really seem logical to you that after all this process we have to stop because a part of the minority doesn't want to?
If this electoral law does not pass, it is the very idea of the Democratic Party as an engine of change in Italy that is failing. If faced with the first difficulties, we too give up how can we build a better Italy for our children? If the bodies of a party (primaries, assembly, management, parliamentary groups) indicate a path and then we don't follow it, how can we still be credible? We have led the PD to get so many votes from the Italians: can we really stop today in front of the vetoes?
That's why the electoral law is at stake in the vote in these hours, of course. But also and above all the dignity of our party. The first rule of democracy is to respect, all together, the rule of internal consensus. When I lost the primaries, I recognized that the political line had to be given by whoever won. Now I'm not simply asking for loyalty; I'm asking for respect for an entire community that has expressed itself many times on this topic, at all levels. Because we have changed this electoral law three times to listen to everyone, to listen to everyone. But at some point you have to decide.
I have made a commitment to you, members of the Democratic Party, to lead the party until December 2017, when the primaries will be held. In that appointment it will be up to you, our community, to choose whether to change secretary. But until that day I will work tirelessly to give our community the possibility of being useful to Italy. Millions of our fellow citizens entrust their hopes to our work: already at other times in the past the divisions of our party have allowed the others to return to power and to do what we have seen. I will do everything to make sure this doesn't happen again. They can send the government home if they really want to, but they can't stop the urgency of change that today's PD represents.
Thanks for the support
Matteo
