On 25 September the Italians are called to elect the new parliament. It is the first time that the political elections are held in the autumn: in the history of republican Italy it has always been voted by the month of June. Instead, it is the ninth time that early elections will have to be used. The last time it happened was in 2008.
The one that the Italians will elect will instead be the first parliament for which the cut in the number of parliamentarians will be valid in 2020 following the constitutional reform approved by the parliament in October 2019 and subsequently confirmed with a referendum in September 2020. This means that they will be 400 deputies and 200 senators were elected, while up to the last elections 630 deputies and 315 senators were elected.
It is a novelty that has many consequences both on political life and on the electoral campaign already underway, and on the very functioning of the chambers, which in many respects will have to be reorganized. This is the case, for example, in the life of parliamentary committees, the small assemblies divided by subject that in the chamber and the senate proceed to the examination of bills and bills before they arrive in the classroom. With the cut of parliamentarians, among other things, their number will have to be reduced, merging some of them, which the senate is about to do, bringing them from 14 to 10.
Another consequence was the redefinition, which took place with a legislative decree of 23 December 2020, of the number and size of the constituencies, which are the portions of territory into which the country is divided and in which the parties present the candidates.
The law with which you will go to vote is the so-called Rosatellum, according to which the three eighths of the seats in the chamber and senate are assigned in single-member constituencies, while the other five eighths are attributed with the proportional system. So as many as 147 deputies and 74 senators will be elected in the single-member constituencies, where the winner is whoever takes even one more vote than the opponents.
To win, it is therefore crucial to have a broad electoral base. This is why the parties at this time are so busy defining alliances. And this is why there is friction within the camps: for now especially on the right, where the electoral result is very important also because in the event of a victory it should be the party that has the most votes to decide who will lead the government.
The plurinominal constituencies that will assign seats with the proportional method are instead 367 in all, 245 to the chamber and 122 to the senate.
The deadline for submitting the lists is set for 22 August. In addition to this, from the day of the dissolution of the chambers and until the day of the elections, many other obligations are expected. Between 12 and 14 August, parties must deposit electoral symbols and badges with the Ministry of the Interior. August 26 marks the formal start of the electoral campaign and therefore of the propaganda. Finally, by October 15, and therefore no later than the twentieth day of the elections, September 25, the new chambers must meet as established by the constitution.
Until that time, the powers of the chambers currently in office are extended. However, all the acts that have not been concluded by the end of the legislature are forfeited, with a few exceptions such as the decree-laws in the process of conversion. In general, however, laws that have not been definitively approved will have to be re-proposed in the next legislature and the approval process restarted from the beginning.
As for the government, he has resigned and remains in office for the so-called handling of current affairs. There is therefore no interruption of the executive power. In this phase, however, it will have to limit itself to the activities necessary and obligatory for the life of the state, those considered indefectible, including the law decrees.
On the other hand, acts that presuppose the exercise of political discretion are excluded, since the government does not currently have a political legitimacy that allows it. The government will therefore not be able to present bills, except those imposed by international obligations.
However, it should be emphasized that in the circular signed by Prime Minister Mario Draghi and in which the perimeter within which the government can actually move is defined, it is specified that among the activities that the government will be able to carry out there are also “legislative acts, regulatory and administrative necessary to deal with national emergencies, emergencies deriving from the international crisis and the epidemiological situation due to covid-19. The government also remains committed to the legislative, regulatory and administrative implementation of the NRP and the Plan for complementary investments (PNC) ”.
Mario Draghi’s government was the sixty-seventh in the history of the republic, and he took office on February 13, 2021. In his seventeen months in office, he raised the question of trust 55 times.