Italy's Meloni suffers parliamentary defeat on election law reform
A secret ballot let coalition defectors sink the proposal, exposing tensions in Meloni’s bloc ahead of the 2027 election.
- On Tuesday, the Chamber of Deputies rejected a key electoral reform amendment by a 188-187 vote, dealing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni her second parliamentary defeat this year.
- The amendment concerned whether future elections should allow voters to use 'preference' votes to name individual candidates on party lists; opposition MPs won a secret ballot request, freeing coalition members to defy the government.
- Around 31 coalition lawmakers defied the government line, provoking anger from Meloni, who wrote on Facebook that 'the swamp has won again,' a phrase she uses for entrenched bureaucratic resistance.
- Although government sources reported Meloni signaled readiness to 'go to the Quirinale' and resign, aides ruled this out, citing 'the responsibility of governing the country' as reason to stay.
- Former prime minister Matteo Renzi claimed 'the majority no longer exists' after the vote, yet the government vowed to press ahead with electoral reform to ensure stability before the 2027 election.
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71 Articles
In fact, the head of government wanted to cement her power with a new electoral law, but her own allies slowed her down: apparently the women rebelled. This second slump in just a few months announces a tough election campaign.
DECRYPTAGE - After failing in its reform of the justice system, the President of the Council fails to correct the electoral law.
He wrecked his electoral reform project by a single vote
A critical provision of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's electoral reform, planned for implementation before the 2027 general elections, was rejected by a single vote in the lower house of parliament. The result of the secret ballot revealed that some MPs from the ruling coalition voted against the government's proposal, prompting the opposition to call for Meloni's resignation.
The Meloni government has lost a vote on the new electoral law, but that is not their only problem.
Giorgia Meloni soon reigns in Rome as long as no other head of government. Now she has to accept a defeat in parliament
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