Italy's lower house passes Meloni's electoral reform, Senate vote next

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Italy’s lower house of parliament on Thursday approved Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hotly debated electoral law — a bill the opposition says is tailor-made to keep the right in power.

Lawmakers backed the reform by 217 votes to 152, with two abstentions, sending it to the Senate, where the government hopes to secure final approval after the summer recess concludes in early September.

The government proposal would replace the current mixed electoral system — where some lawmakers are elected directly in local districts, and others are allocated to parties based on their share of the national vote — with a fully proportional model, assigning all seats according to parties’ vote share. The law would also guarantee a governing majority to any coalition winning more than 42 percent of the vote.

Opposition parties immediately attacked the prime minister, portraying the proposal as a power grab. “Meloni has betrayed Italians,” said Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein, telling parliament that “we will send you home with any electoral law.”

Meloni’s term is due to end in September 2027, and the Italian leader wants to pass the reform ahead of the next general election. Many political observers believe she could send the country to the polls as early as next April , with pressure mounting from both the opposition, which appears to be coalescing around a united front, and within her own coalition. Roberto Vannacci’s hard-right breakaway party National Future, which he formed in February after splitting from the League , is competing for some of the same voters as Meloni.

The parliamentary vote came just two days after the prime minister lost a key amendment on the electoral reform by a single vote in a secret ballot, which suggested lawmakers from her coalition had voted against their own government.