Italian lawmakers prepared to vote Thursday on a contentious law granting bonus Parliament seats to election winners, a measure championed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that supporters call “Stabilicum” and critics deride as “Melonellum.”
The legislation would award the winning party or coalition 70 seats in the lower house and 35 in the Senate, provided it reaches 42 percent in both chambers. Italy’s Parliament has 600 seats total—400 in the lower house and 200 in the Senate. Proponents argue the bonus ensures governability in a nation with 68 governments since 1946, the briefest lasting just 22 days in 1954. Meloni, who has threatened to resign if it fails, leads a center-right coalition pushing the reform.
Critics, including political scientists and constitutional experts, denounce it as unconstitutional and antidemocratic, warning it concentrates power and undermines Parliament. Gianluca Passarelli of Sapienza University called it a “Frankenstein law,” while journalist Massimo Giannini likened it to the 1923 fascist-era law. A prior 2005 bonus law was struck down by the Constitutional Court in 2013.
The measure has sparked protests and petitions from civil rights groups. Opponents have vowed to challenge it at the Constitutional Court if enacted. Parliament debated provisions on pre-election prime ministerial nominations and voter preferences, with critics saying such powers belong to the president.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing