Parliament: Bill, filibuster and ballot box, springtime between tour de force and traffic jam risk

A 'hot' spring, with a final rush towards summer that promises to be particularly tight, and the risk of traffic jams always around the corner due to the slalom between election campaign, referendum and elections. In the coming weeks, the Chamber and Senate seem to be destined for a 'tour de force', especially because of a particularly rich package of decrees that are due to expire and must be approved by specific deadlines. For this reason, in fact, in Montecitorio the spring long weekends have been scaled down, with the Chamber returning to meet on Tuesday 22 to approve the following day, with a vote of confidence, the Dl Pa that expires on 13 May and must be sent to the Senate. In order to give the measure a fast track, the 'cut-off' on the debate in the House has been triggered, provoking the wrath of the opposition: 'In May we will filibuster everything,' promised the M5s after the last group leader in Montecitorio. On the same line Avs and also Pd, which complained about the 'total closure of the majority and government' on parliamentary work. Sparks are therefore expected in the Chamber already in the coming days when (Thursday 24 April) the resolutions linked by the Dfp are to be voted on in the Chamber. Here too, the opposition has promised battle after having asked in the group leaders, without finding satisfaction, for the presence of the Minister of the Economy and the Prime Minister in the Chamber.

After the Dl Pa, the Chambers have another deadline to meet: the Security Decree, due to expire on 10 June and also to be sent to the Senate. Montecitorio will already deal with it on Thursday, with the vote on the preliminary motions presented by the oppositions. In the meantime, the Senate, starting tomorrow, Tuesday 22 April, is scheduled to pass yet another decree, the Dl bill, already approved by the House.

The chamber of Palazzo Madama will also host Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday for the long-awaited premier time. At this point, after next week's votes, the Chambers should enjoy a few days of tranquillity. In Montecitorio it will be a group leader on Thursday 24 who will define the work programme for May. The Senate has already decided that the week from 28 April to 2 May will be reserved for the work of the Commissions: no chamber, therefore, with the possible exception of the examination of the Dfp if it is necessary.

But the May timetable is likely to be particularly demanding to define, not to mention that of June. In the Senate, for example, the Dl on electoral and referendum consultations (deadline 18 May), the Dl on citizenship (deadline 27 May), the Dl on irregular immigration (deadline 27 May), the Dl on natural disasters (deadline 30 May) are queued up. Several of these measures are waiting for the House to give the green light first. In June, on the other hand, the Dl Pnrr expires on 6.

All of this is net of the decisions of the Cdm, with new measures that could be approved between now and the summer break, such as the decrees (announced or expected) on the Irpef 2025 advance payments and on the 'pension rescue'. Lastly, the work of Parliament will have to take into account the election deadlines for which, as a matter of practice, there is a pause in the run-up to the polls for the election campaign. The next appointments are those of the administrative elections and the referendum. Sunday 25 and Monday 26 May are scheduled for the first round of local government elections, with a runoff on the 8th and 9th when there will be an election day with the abrogative referendums on five issues concerning labour and citizenship. In total, more than 400 Italian municipalities will go to the ballot, many of them in special statute regions that have a different electoral calendar: FVG 13 and 14 April (ballot 27 and 28 April); Sardinia 8 and 9 June (ballot 22 and 23 June); Sicily 25 and 26 May (ballot 8 and 9 June); Trentino-Alto Adige 4 May (ballot 18 May).