Italians are soon to cast their ballots in a referendum on which Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has staked his premiership.
Unlike that in Britain recently, the Italian referendum is on constitutional reform. The proposed reforms are widespread, and if approved could improve the stability of Italy’s governments and allow faster passage of laws aimed at improving the country’s economic competitiveness.
Voters will decide if the Italian constitution should be amended to change the composition of the upper house of parliament, the senate, whittling the number of senators down to 100. By limiting the power of a larger senate to bring down governments, more stable administrations should result.
Although the referendum is not about the EU – and Italy’s constitution does not permit referenda to change international treaties - some observers believe that voters could use it as a chance to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to Renzi’s leadership.
“For 30 years we’ve been saying that constitutional reforms are needed because we have the largest and most expensive parliament in the world, and I will do everything in my power to make sure the reforms law is voted on its merits,” Renzi said.
His departure could open the door to the eurosceptic Five Star Movement, already the second-largest party in parliament and which has just won two prominent mayoral posts, including that of the nation’s capital.
Five Star has said it wants a referendum on Italian membership of the euro.
If the referendum results in a ‘yes’ vote, the number of senators in the upper house of parliament will be reduced from 315 to just 100. They will be specially selected by the government from regional councils across the country rather than being elected directly.
The referendum is expected to be held in either October or November.
