But how beautiful Rosatellum bis! This call has now become the mantra of the center-left which is clinging to the successes obtained from a wide field in the last regional elections in South-Central Italy (among other things, most of which were predictable and taken for granted) in order to hope for victory in the 2027 elections while keeping the current. election law. Authoritative exponents of the Democratic Party clearly state this as Andrea Orlando:”The center-right should know: this voting system cannot be changed“.
Reason? Based on the results recorded in local consultations especially in Campania and Puglia (where the electoral dynamics are unlikely to be paralleled in the next Parliamentary elections) and the elections, the opposition parties are in a difficult situation because they believe that – with the total number in one coalition – they can mock Giorgia Meloni and win seats in single-member constituencies. It is a pity that, until a few years ago, some representatives of the Democratic Party at all costs wanted to change the election laws that the Democratic party itself wanted in 2017 (it is no coincidence that “Rosatellum” takes its name from Ettore Rosatoformer Renzian supporter and now Calendian). Let’s go in order.
On March 4, 2018, even in his heart Democratic Party expected to be able to undermine the “populist bad guys” with the new electoral system just approved, the 5 Star Movement and the League would impose themselves in the elections, which incidentally together would give life to the government of Conte 1. A year later, this same national executive fell due to strong internal differences between Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini, but Giuseppi remained in the saddle of Palazzo Chigi thanks to an agreement between Grillini and the new Democratic Party. Nicola Zingaretti. The latter did not hesitate: “I think the 5% threshold is the minimum. I remember that we came from a bad law, which was supposed to be a majority but did not guarantee that the winner of the election would be known that same night. Rosatellum is one of the worst election laws ever created“.
In fact, in the new government program, the Democratic Party wants to put one element on paper: they will vote on constitutional reform, reducing the number of members of parliament, but only on the condition that the electoral law must be passed immediately afterward. The Senator would be the first to state this clearly Dario Parrini (president of the Constitutional Affairs Commission) in 2020, days before the confirmation referendum on September 20: “The majority agreement also provides for reform of the electoral law, a proportional system with a five percent threshold, through the elimination of the single member component of the system. The Chamber has set the electoral reforms up for examination in the Chamber from Monday 28 September“.
Always at the turn of summer-autumn after the first wave of Covid Emanuele Fianoone of the reporters of the proposal for a new electoral system, recalled: “Together with 5 Stars and Italia Viva, we signed an agreement regarding the model electoral law and the fact that its approval is a priority. Our President will attend the next group leaders’ conference Graziano Delrio He will ask for something more, which our allies have already accepted, namely a quick scheduling of election legislation“.
Several months passed and in January 2021 – not long before the end of Giuseppe Conte’s experience as Prime Minister – the then Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini relaunch theme: “With the new proportional law with a threshold of 5 percent, a new, healthier bipolar system will be born“. For former National Secretariat”a system like the one in Germany would in fact lead to a new bipolarism in various forms, causing the leading parties to ally themselves with other powers and would put an end to forced coalitions.“. In short, agreement on electoral law”strengthening the government, given that it is fully owned by the groups that support it and accepted conditionally by Leu“.
Therefore, this is not a question of “discussions that emerge from improvisation or thinking about near or distant elections. When we voted on the reduction of MPs, we firmly wrote that this must be accompanied by a new electoral law, to avoid an unsustainable situation. And the text of the proposal submitted to this Council goes in that direction“, concluded Franceschini. And Andrea Orlando himself does not exclude”a process of change that can also go through a proportional system phase, which redefines the two poles“.
Even the mayor of Bergamo at that time did not want to lose, Giorgio Goriwho believe that a return to proportional representation is necessary”so that each party runs according to its wishes without having to build alliances before the election“, And Enrico Lettatheir leader in October 2021, when he argued that we need to think as soon as possible about changes to electoral law that should “bringing back bonds and harmony between elected representatives and voters, only in this way will elected representatives be able to have true awareness of issues and problems. This is where harmony with the state is born“.
Well, now that this “harmony” seems (perhaps) only to exist in the South, the temptation not to change the cards on the table is strong. To quote an old diamond ad, for today’s Democratic Party Rosatellum forever.
