Malan evokes election day, then brakes. The future of the government linked to the vote on electoral reform

The group leader of the Brothers of Italy in the Senate, Lucio Malan, evokes election day with the municipal elections, then backtracks. Meanwhile, the fate of the legislature depends on the secret vote on electoral reform in the Chamber, scheduled for Thursday

The topic of possible early elections returns to the majority's reasoning, with spring 2027 indicated as a possible time window. Lucio Malan, group leader of the Brothers of Italy in the Senate, brought the spotlight back on the hypothesis, raising the possibility of merging the political vote with that of the May administrative elections. "There could be a need to vote in May and it could make sense to vote together with the municipal elections," said the parliamentarian. A hypothesis which, shortly afterwards, Malan himself downsized, reiterating that the objective remains to reach the natural conclusion of the legislature, expected in the autumn of 2027, in compliance with the prerogatives of the Quirinale. "As far as we are concerned, the legislature goes to the end, that is until the autumn of 2027, without prejudice to the prerogatives of the Head of State", he pointed out. But in the majority there is already ferment.

Malan's statements

"The deadline is five years - said the group leader to Un Giorno da Pecora -, we voted in September and therefore we could vote again in September. The flaw with voting in September is that you have little time for the electoral campaign, and then you have to pass the budget law which is very delicate. Therefore, there could be a need to vote in May and it could make sense to vote together with the municipal elections". Despite the backtracking, his statements fueled questions within the party. According to some sources, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni would not have appreciated the exit of the group leader in the Senate. But there are those who read the episode differently: the reference to the spring vote could be part of a broader strategy, with the scenarios now openly put on the table.

The stumbling block of electoral reform

Meanwhile, Meloni has indicated the final vote on the electoral reform as one of the decisive steps for the future of the executive. Attention is focused on the secret vote scheduled in the Chamber for Thursday 8 October: if the measure were rejected, the prime minister would have already made it known that she would go up to the Quirinale. For the moment, the situation at Palazzo Chigi is described as calm: in fact, no signs of tension are emerging within the government.

What if he went up to the Quirinale?

Any decision to end the government experience early would still start from Meloni. In such a scenario, the practice would be for the Brothers of Italy, as the main force of the majority, to indicate a possible window for the vote. With the current parliamentary balance, there seems to be no margin for building alternative majorities. Faced with such a situation, the next step would be at the Quirinale: the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella could proceed to dissolve the Chambers and call elections. In this context, the hypothesis of an election in May emerges. A hypothesis that appears less and less remote.