A new election system has been approved in Italy. The opposition believes that the reform will benefit Meloni

The Italian Parliament on Thursday passed a law to switch to a fully proportional system of parliamentary elections. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says the system will make it possible to avoid the leapfrog of governments; The opposition accuses Meloni of adjusting the election mechanism to suit herself.

Until now, the Italian parliament was elected using a mixed system: two-thirds of deputies were elected from party lists, a third from single-mandate constituencies.

Now, next year’s elections will be held only on party lists, and the winning party or coalition will be able to receive a bonus in the form of dozens of additional mandates.

227 deputies voted for the new election law, 164 were against. Giorgia Meloni threatened that if the law does not pass, she will resign and initiate early elections.

Local commentators noted that as a result, this bill had almost no chance of being defeated, in particular because many deputies were deprived of the right to a parliamentary pension in the event of early elections.

“Stable governments […] mean more continuity, more accountability and more opportunities to give concrete solutions to the people of Italy,” Meloni wrote on Network X after the vote.

Under the new law, the electoral coalition that receives more than 42% of the vote will receive a bonus in the form of 70 seats in the 400-seat lower house of parliament and 35 in the 200-seat upper house, the Senate. At the same time, in order to avoid the emergence of an overwhelming majority, the law introduced a limit on the size of the bonus: winners can use it to occupy no more than 220 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and no more than 113 seats in the Senate.

If two coalitions or parties get more than 42%, then the one with more votes will receive the bonus.

The new law also obliges coalitions and parties to name their candidate for prime minister before elections.

“This is a revolution [...] The voice of the Italian voter is finally gaining real weight, since they will choose the coalition, its program, and the candidate for prime minister,” the AFP agency quotes Meloni’s colleague in the Brothers of Italy party, Giovanni Donzelli.

Meloni's right-wing coalition government has been in place for almost four years, and this is a record for post-war Italy, previously famous for its frequent changes of governments.

The term of this parliament and, accordingly, this Meloni government ends in October 2027, but she can call elections for the spring - April or May.

The opposition says Meloni wants to use the new system to ensure victory in these next elections and vows to challenge the new law in court.