The constitutional reform foresees, in conjunction with the attribution to the Senate of the role of representing Regions and Municipalities, a reduction in the number of senators: from 315 to 95 elected members.
The ninety-five senators will be appointed by the regional councils, which in turn are elected by the citizens. Each regional council will have to elect a senator among the mayors of the municipalities in the region's territory. The same goes for the two autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano: there will therefore be 21 senators-mayors. The other 74 senators will be elected by the regional councils and the autonomous provinces among their members, with the proportional method.
The Senate thus becomes a more streamlined assembly, made up of subjects who combine their role as representatives elected by the citizens in the territorial institutions with the task of ensuring, in the Senate, better coordination between the State and the instances of the Regions and Municipalities.
The President of the Republic will be able, as today, to nominate five senators for outstanding merits in the social, scientific, artistic and literary fields. These senators, however, will hold office for 7 years, not for life as envisaged by the current constitution.
Attachments: The Simple Guide to Assonime's constitutional reform
