Italy`s parliament gave final approval on Thursday to a contentious electoral reform that grants bonus parliamentary seats to alliances securing at least 42 percent of the national vote. Proposed by the governing coalition of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the legislation replaces the nation`s mixed electoral framework with a proportional model aimed at generating stable legislative majorities. International news services confirmed that the bill cleared the Chamber of Deputies in a secret-ballot vote by 227 to 164.
Prime Minister Meloni had vowed to resign if the reform failed to pass the lower house.
Under the approved framework, any coalition crossing the 42 percent threshold in both parliamentary chambers receives a majority bonus of up to 70 seats in the 400-seat Chamber of Deputies and up to 35 seats in the 200-seat Senate. The mechanism incorporates a ceiling preventing the winning alliance from holding more than 220 seats in the lower house and 113 in the Senate. Should no political bloc reach the required threshold, parliamentary seats will be distributed purely proportionally.
The new system formally dissolves the "Rosatellum" system utilized in Italian general elections since 2017.
Opposition leaders staged vocal protests during the legislative session, arguing the framework concentrates disproportionate power within a minority alliance. Riccardo Magi, head of the liberal More Europe party who initiated a hunger strike against the measure, condemned the reform as structurally undemocratic. Senator Matteo Renzi of Italia Viva asserted that the governing right-wing coalition initiated the overhaul out of apprehension over shifting voter dynamics. Furthermore, electoral researchers noted that a clause obligating political blocs to formally designate prime ministerial nominees prior to the election could ignite internal divisions across the fragmented centre-left opposition.
Vincenzo Emanuele, a political science professor at Rome`s Luiss Guido Carli University, observed that the legislation does not automatically guarantee advantage to Meloni`s governing coalition. National polling places Meloni`s Brothers of Italy party at 27 percent, with governing partners Lega and Forza Italia lifting collective support to 39 percent. Conversely, data shows an aligned centre-left coalition comprising the Democratic Party and the Five Star Movement could achieve 44 percent, mathematically allowing the opposition to claim the parliamentary bonus.
Italy`s next general election must take place by December 2027 at the latest. The eventual impact of the reform will depend on whether emerging parties alter the balance before voters head to the polls.
