- cross-posted to:
- europe@feddit.de
- cross-posted to:
- europe@feddit.de
[Note: trying out /c/politicsā new international politics focus]
The Italian prime ministerās calculation isnāt hard to understand ā her party has a comfortable lead in the polls, but itās far from an overwhelming majority.
The optics are terrible: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has made proposals for constitutional reform that are eerily reminiscent of another constitutional change made a century ago by Benito Mussolini.
Adopted in November 1923, Mussoliniās notorious Acerbo Law established that the party winning the largest share of the vote ā even if only 25 percent ā would get two-thirds of the seats in parliament. And after his party won the subsequent election ā although intimidation and violence proved more important there than tampering with electoral law ā the road to dictatorship was paved.
Meloniās current proposal now echoes this Acerbo Law, as the Italian leader wants to automatically give the party with the highest percentage of votes a 55 percent share of the seats in parliament. In other words, as long as one party receives more votes than any other ā even if that were, say, 20 percent of the national vote ā it will be rewarded with outright parliamentary control.
Itās poorly worded, but look at their link which shows Polandās election. It will make more sense. The party only received 35% of the votes (the rest of the votes going to opposing parties), but theyād suddenly own 55% of the seats due to this system.
Similarly, if the Netherlands had the same system, the far-right Party for Freedom would have 55% of the seats despite only winning 24% of the vote. A scary thought.
Iām on board now. Law and Justice had the largest single share at 35% and would thus receive 55% control of parliament under Italyās proposed system, but with 52% of the population preferring a different mix of leadership.