A constitutional referendum was held today in Italy. Voters decided if they want to transform the senate of the Republic to the “Senate of Regions”, they would be amending the constitution to reform Italy’s parliament and the way governments are created. In 2014 Prime Minister Matteo Renzi came into power. He spoke of Italian politics reform and promises to get the economy booming. He generated a lot of support from his center-left Democratic Party. He introduced a bill that would alter Italy’s 1947 constitution. The prime minister and his supporters declared that this bill could help streamline the country’s legislative process, while his critics argued that it would take away many of the powers Italy’s parliament have and put all of the power into the hands of the prime minister. Regardless of opposing views about the bill, it was passed through parliament earlier this year.
The only issue was it didn’t receive the two-thirds majority of votes needed . So Renzi seeked referendum. He went to the Italy’s Court of Cassation where they approved the referendum in August. They scheduled the voting date for December 4. This can drastically change Italy’s parliament. The idea of the bill is to change Italy from a perfect bicameral system to one where the Chamber of Deputies holds the majority of power and the Senate has reduced powers. Currently now both the Senate and Chamber are equal in power. The number of Senators will drop from 315 to 100. The reasoning for this change? People have accused Italy of making slow progress on legislation.
The economic impact of this referendum will include Italy’s banks, which are already in trouble as it is.
Sadly Renzi has lost. Just like he promised, he has resigned.
Comments are closed.