Since the center-right coalition brought Giorgia Meloni to power in September 2022, Italy has enjoyed a period of political stability that is quite exceptional in its history. Yet the prime minister is now facing a period of intense turmoil. Following the failure of her judicial reform, she has just suffered another setback: part of her electoral reform has failed, following the defection of lawmakers from her own party. On the international front, meanwhile, her stormy relationship with US President Donald Trump has placed her in an uncomfortable position.
Meloni's Own Camp Turns Against Her
On 14 July, a draft electoral reform bill was submitted to the Italian Parliament. Its goal was to introduce a proportional representation system with a majority bonus for parliamentary elections. The proposal itself was fairly standard, but it included one new feature: an amendment establishing a system of preferences (preferenze), allowing voters to indicate their preferred candidate on the electoral lists. Traditionally, that order had been fixed and predetermined by the parties. This was where the crisis came to a head. About 30 members of parliament from the governing majority voted against the amendment alongside the opposition, and it was rejected.
The issue put to a vote may seem trivial, but it has stoked tensions among the coalition's three parties in recent weeks. By eliminating the gender parity requirement, the preferenze system was accused of disadvantaging women, who would be more readily sidelined by voters when the time came to choose. Until the eve of the vote, the government believed it could prevail, and the defection of the 30 lawmakers, who voted by secret ballot, came as an unexpected blow. The prime minister denounced a victory for the political “swamp” and “a missed opportunity for Italians”, taking aim at the traitors within her own camp. “Even within the majority, votes were missing, and we will need to reflect on that”, she explained.
