On Monday, October 5, the minister for Relations with Parliament, Luca Ciriani, called a confidence vote on articles 1, 2 and 3 of the electoral law, which is in the Chamber for its last reading after the Senate’s changes. The confidence vote on the first two articles is expected on Tuesday, the one on the third on Wednesday. On Thursday, October 8, after voting statements live on TV from 10:30, the whole text is put to a vote, not before 12:30. That vote remains secret, because the confidence vote does not apply to the final vote. In July, secret votes had already brought down the amendment on preference votes. The opposition spoke of a “slap in the face for Parliament.” According to the press, Meloni has tied the fate of the reform to that of the government.
The electoral law decides how votes are turned into seats at the next general election. With the confidence vote the majority avoids surprises on the key articles, but the final secret vote is a test of its cohesion. If the law passes, the next legislature will be elected under new rules.
It changes how your vote counts at the next general election. Before the vote, check how lists, constituencies and thresholds work: the official explanations will come after publication in the Gazzetta Ufficiale.
The confidence vote is a legitimate tool, already used by many governments to close long reforms. After the ambushes of July, the majority is protecting a text that has already been debated in two readings.
The rules of the game should be written with the broadest possible consensus. Locking in an electoral law with a confidence vote squeezes the debate and leaves the opposition with nothing but protest.
The number to watch on Thursday is the gap between the yes votes in the secret ballot and the majority’s seats. If the yes votes are far fewer than the confidence votes of the previous days, snipers exist even when the law passes, and they will weigh on the choice of the election date.
ANSA (confidence vote, opposition reactions, Oct. 5) · Il Post (calendar, secret ballot) · la Repubblica (steps to the final vote) · Il Sole 24 Ore · Teleborsa · Avvenire (early-vote hypothesis, not confirmed) · Domani
Electoral law: government calls a confidence vote on the first three articles. Final vote Thursday, by secret ballot
Minister Ciriani locks in articles 1, 2 and 3 of the text returned from the Senate. The opposition speaks of a “slap in the face for Parliament.” One last hurdle remains: the secret vote on the whole text.
On Monday afternoon in the Chamber of Deputies, Luca Ciriani, the minister for Relations with Parliament, called a confidence vote on the first three articles of the new electoral law, the heart of the reform. It is the last step: the text had already been amended in the Senate, and Montecitorio must approve it without further changes for it to become law. According to the calendar reported by Il Post and la Repubblica, the Chamber votes the confidence motion on the first two articles on Tuesday and on the third on Wednesday; on Thursday, October 8, after the voting statements broadcast live on television from 10:30, comes the final vote, not before 12:30.
The confidence vote is meant to neutralize the snipers. On a locked article, deputies vote by roll call, in the open, and amendments lapse. In July, Il Post and Avvenire recall, it was secret votes that brought down the amendment on preference votes. But the confidence vote does not cover the final vote on the text as a whole, which remains a secret ballot: that is where the majority can still stumble. Giorgia Meloni, according to the press, has tied the fate of the reform to that of the government.
The opposition reacted harshly. “The majority is afraid, it is a slap in the face for Parliament,” is the line reported by ANSA, which describes an open clash in the chamber. For the centre-right, the confidence vote is an ordinary tool for closing a reform that has already passed two readings. In the papers the reform already has several nicknames: Il Post calls it “Stabilicum,” Domani “Melonellum.” In the background, Avvenire reports a “crazy idea” circulating in the majority: bringing the general election forward to the spring. For now it is only a hypothesis, with no official confirmation. The spring calendar is already crowded: ANSA recalls that about two thousand municipalities will vote on the election day. If the text passes on Thursday, it will need the signature of the President of the Republic and publication in the Gazzetta Ufficiale. From that moment the next general election, whenever it comes, will be held under the new rules. If instead the secret vote sinks it, the reform goes back to square one and the majority will have to explain who betrayed it.