Il center find the square on the Electoral law and prepares to bring to the Senate a shared text. After a summit lasting over two hours at the Brothers of Italy headquarters on Via della Scrofa, the majority reached the agreement on the amendments to be presented on next September 1st, when the deadline for amendments expires.
The political choice is clear: to proceed united with an amendment signed by all the parties of the coalition – Fratelli d'Italia, Lega, Forza Italia, Noi Moderati and UDC – overcoming the divisions that emerged during the previous passage in the Chamber, where the proposal on preferences had been rejected in the Chamber by a single vote after resorting to secret ballot.
The central point of the agreement concerns the return of the preferences, one of the most delicate points of the electoral reform.
Electoral law, what the agreement provides: preferences and gender quotas
The amendment that will reach the Senate takes up the so-called "Tuscan model”: voters will be able to express up to three preferences, while the top candidates will remain blocked.
The main new development concerns gender representation. The text establishes the obligation to respect the alternation between men and women, with a maximum 60% gender ratio in the distribution of top candidates. The rebalancing mechanism should also apply to the expression of preferences, introducing constraints to ensure a more balanced presence of male and female candidates. The new rules should also take into account territorial specificities, including those of the single-member constituencies in Trentino-Alto Adige.
The double candidacy of the leaders has been confirmed
The new text should also include the provision introduced in the Chamber with the Bignami amendment on double candidacy of the leaders. The provision stipulates that anyone running on the list associated with the national prize must also be a candidate at the top of the list in multi-member constituencies. If the top position is already occupied, the candidate will be placed in the immediately subsequent positions on the list.
During the internal comparison, some issues were also taken into consideration: alternative modifications, according to parliamentary sources. Among these is the proposal, supported by a section of Forza Italia, to eliminate the requirement for top candidates to also appear on the list linked to the national prize.
The majority, however, chose to maintain the framework already established in the first phase of the parliamentary process, intervening primarily on the preference mechanisms, gender balance, and the rules for candidacies.
A text shared by the entire majority
The new agreement also stems from the desire to avoid another parliamentary misstep. In the Chamber, in fact, the amendment on preferences had been signed only by the Brothers of Italy, Noi Moderati, and the UDC and then rejected by a single secret ballot. A result that highlighted some difficulties in the majority and opened the way to the possibility of votes against coming from within the coalition itself.
For this reason, in view of the examination in the Senate, the centre-right has chosen a different line: a unitary amendment signed by all the forces of the majority, with the aim of strengthening political unity and securing the parliamentary path of the reform.
The agreement was defined by the Organization Manager for Fratelli d'Italia John Donzelli and the deputy Angelo Rossi; for the League the minister Roberto Calderoli e Andrea Paganella; for the UDC Lorenzo Cesa; for Us Moderates Alessandro Colucci; for Forza Italia Stefano Benign e Alessandro Klinker, with the involvement of the senator as well Roberto Red.
