Italy approves contested electoral law changes

Italian MPs approved a reform of the country's electoral law on Thursday, passing changes that opposition parties say Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government designed to improve its chances of re-election next year.

The vote passed by 227 votes to 164 after Meloni told her governing coalition she would resign if the reform failed.

The changes introduce a fully proportional system and guarantee a parliamentary majority to any alliance that wins more than 42 percent of the vote. Such an alliance would receive an additional 70 seats in the lower house and 35 in the Senate.

Meloni says the reform will improve political stability. “Stable governments and greater participation mean more continuity, more accountability and a greater ability to provide concrete answers to Italians,” she wrote on X after the vote.

The law also requires parties and coalitions to set out their governing programme and name their candidate for premier before elections. Giovanni Donzelli, a senior lawmaker with Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, told AFP the law “is a revolution” because voters would choose the coalition, platform and candidate for prime minister.

Opposition leaders reject the reform. Giuseppe Conte, former prime minister and leader of the Five Stars Movement, told AFP it was “a mess” and said it had been devised to give the government an advantage in the next elections.

Meloni leads the longest-serving government in Italy's post-war history. Her term officially ends in October 2027, but she could choose to bring elections forward to April or May. Opposition parties have said they will challenge the new law in court.