Italy's lower house passes Meloni's proportional election law, 227 to 164

Italy's Chamber of Deputies on Thursday gave final approval to a new election law, 227 votes to 164. The bill, backed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition, replaces the current hybrid system with a fully proportional one and adds a majority bonus for a coalition that clears 42 percent of the vote. The next general election is due in 2027. Meloni had warned she could resign and call an early vote if the plan failed. The ballot was secret, and her office treated it as a test of authority inside her own majority.

The government last month became the longest-serving Italian administration since the Second World War. Meloni has held office since the 2022 election, a rare stretch of stability in a system that has cycled cabinets for decades. She says the new rules raise the chance of a clear winner and a government that lasts. Opposition parties said in the chamber that the design is built to keep her right-wing coalition in power, and they accused the majority of brushing past democratic objection. The BBC recorded that charge in its account of the debate.

What the bonus actually does

The current law elects about one third of members in first-past-the-post seats and the rest by proportional representation. The new law drops the single-member races. Seats follow the vote, with two thresholds. A coalition needs 10 percent to enter parliament. A party, inside or outside a coalition, needs 3 percent. Parties that are not already in parliament must collect 6,000 signatures in each constituency to field candidates, up from 1,500.

The stability device is the bonus. A party or coalition that wins the largest share, and clears 42 percent, receives 105 extra seats: 70 in the 400-member Chamber and 35 in the 200-member Senate. That block can turn a narrow lead into a working majority. Coalitions must also name their joint candidate for prime minister, and publish a political programme, before the election. The voter is asked to choose a camp and a named premier at the same time, rather than a local candidate in a single-member seat.

Who the arithmetic favours

Italy's two large camps are Meloni's conservative alliance and a centre-left bloc that includes the Democratic Party and the Five Star Movement. A 42 percent bar is within reach of a united right if the present polling holds, and harder for a divided left. That is the opposition's objection in numbers rather than in rhetoric. A bonus of 70 lower-house seats is more than a sixth of the chamber. A coalition that finishes just over the line does not have to negotiate a third partner to govern.

The secret ballot was the procedural risk. In a public vote the coalition whip would have made 227 a formality. A secret vote lets deputies defect without a name on a list. The bill passed anyway, by 63 votes. Meloni's threat to resign if it failed is now unused. The law is through the lower house as the final approval. Reuters described Thursday's vote as completing the reform.

What changes for the next campaign

The practical change for parties is the pre-election contract. Naming a prime minister and a programme before the vote ties the coalition in public. A partner that wants to leave after the count has already signed a name. That is the point Meloni's side makes about stability. The opposition point is that the bonus, the higher signature hurdle and the coalition threshold raise the cost of standing outside the two camps.

The election date is still the ordinary one unless she chooses otherwise. She no longer needs an early vote to pass the bill. She may still want one if she judges the bonus more useful on today's numbers than on 2027's. The text that passed does not set that date. It sets the rule the next vote, whenever it comes, will use: pure proportional representation, a 42 percent gate, 105 extra seats, and a named premier on the ballot paper.