Electoral law: majority bonus and voting for those living away from home approved. The Vannacci-backed amendment on preferential votes has been rejected

An amendment to the electoral law, however, was approved, tabled by the centre-right MP Paolo Emilio Russo, which, as the MP himself explained in the Chamber, aims “to reduce the fragmentation of the political system and prevent the proliferation of small lists, which are a source of instability”. The amendment stipulates that the votes for lists ranked below the coalition’s ‘best runner-up’ shall not count towards the national electoral total for the purposes of the bonus. The Stabilicum currently provides for the so-called right of repêchage: within each electoral coalition, the first excluded list that falls below the 3 per cent threshold still obtains seats and participates in the proportional allocation.

Meanwhile, Roberto Zaccaria, coordinator of the Network against Electoral Reform, has announced that “appeals are already prepared in dozens of courts with the aim of having the cases referred to the Constitutional Court. It is unthinkable to go to the polls under an electoral law that upends our Constitution”. “We are ready to mobilise across the country against an electoral law that upends our democratic balance,” emphasised Zaccaria, announcing that there will be a meeting of the Network tomorrow evening. “The atmosphere will be similar to that of the referendum,” he assured.

On Tuesday, the majority failed the secret ballot on preferences. The FdI amendment (a fixed-list system with up to three preferences and gender alternation) was rejected by a single vote (187 in favour, 188 against), scuppered by around thirty rebels. The opposition is celebrating, calling for a government crisis and an early election. But the centre-right intends to put this defeat behind it and press ahead with passing the bill.

The debate on the motion continued in the Chamber until midnight. The centre-left’s request to suspend proceedings following the rejection of the preferential votes was not successful. In a late-night development, opposition MPs ‘occupied’ the Chamber and called for proceedings to be suspended over the video footage of Vannacchio’s supporters, who had filmed their secret ballot to avoid accusations of being mavericks. They also pointed the finger at the Futuro Nazionale MP, Domenico Furgiuele, who allegedly uttered Hitler’s name in the Chamber. But that was not all. During the night-time sitting, the opposition parties (M5S, AVS, PD, IV and Più Europa) also announced, in protest, the withdrawal of almost all amendments (excluding, amongst others, the one on students living away from home and those concerning digital signatures and the rules for standing for election).

Meloni, who ‘stood her ground’ on the amendment concerning fixed-list candidates and preferential votes – going so far as to challenge the opposition by calling for a roll call vote rather than a secret ballot – made no secret of her anger and disappointment on Tuesday evening (“We gave it a go. The quagmire has won again”) and admitted that “the majority fell short by several votes” and “we need to reflect on this”.

The FdI leader, Antonio Tajani, described it as a ‘hiccup’. He assured: ‘We’re moving forward’. “Let’s get this measure through and then we’ll take stock of the situation,” added Galeazzo Bignami, FdI’s group leader in the Chamber of Deputies. The majority’s objective therefore remains to pass the Stabilicum, which has been under consideration in the Chamber of Deputies since yesterday. Closed lists remain in place. And goodbye to preferential votes. In any case, as Senate President Ignazio La Russa pointed out, there will be a second round in the Senate, where no ‘secret ballot’ is envisaged on this point and there will be a ‘real possibility of amending – even in a targeted manner – what was voted on in the Chamber of Deputies’.

Late on Tuesday evening, the worst-case scenario for the Prime Minister thus came to pass in the Chamber of Deputies. It was a day that saw a level of attendance rarely witnessed in the Chamber, with ministers who are also MPs rushing to their seats after the Council of Ministers meeting to take part in a vote that ended in a way the centre-right had not anticipated. This was all the more surprising given that the rapporteurs and the government had given their approval to Meloni’s amendment on preferential votes, after initially intending to leave the matter to the Chamber.

The agreement with the League and Forza Italia seemed set in stone. On Tuesday morning, the League and Forza Italia had announced they would vote in favour of the amendment tabled by FdI, Noi Moderati and the UDC, which provided for a closed list at the top, followed by the option to cast up to three preferences, one of which had to be based on gender. The parliamentary groups of FI and the League had taken note of the position set out by Matteo Salvini and Antonio Tajani, who had given their general approval, albeit reluctantly. Tajani had described it as an ‘acceptable compromise proposal’. Even Vannacchio’s supporters, who favoured preferences ‘tout court’, had announced they would vote in favour of the FdI amendment, describing it as ‘the lesser of two evils’.

Following the rejection of Meloni’s amendment, the parties in the governing coalition – off the record – passed the buck to one another. Although officially both Forza Italia and the League denied that the dissenting voices were concentrated within their own ranks. Some have spoken of an underground, cross-party ‘protest’ by centre-right women against the failure to guarantee gender parity, which may have caused the whole thing to fall apart. The FdI amendment provided, in fact, that the gender alternation mechanism would apply from the third name on the list, meaning that the gender of the ‘fixed’ lead candidate and the first name on the ballot paper could therefore be the same.

The centre-left has played its hand. It called for a secret ballot, counting on rebels to expose the internal divisions within the majority. Following the rejection of the amendment on preferential voting, chants of “resign” and “elections” erupted from the benches of the broad coalition. “Now Meloni must face the consequences,” was the refrain chanted by the leaders. Schlein spoke of a vote “against the Prime Minister’s arrogance”. Conte pressed home his point, addressing the centre-right: “Meloni challenged us to stand up and be counted; you did just that and you have passed a vote of no confidence in your Prime Minister.” But the majority is pressing ahead.