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What Germany does not really want to succeed, Italy has now achieved: in the future there will be fewer deputies in parliament than the citizens decided in a referendum. In the regional elections there are winners from all sides.
Italians voted in a referendum to reduce the size of their parliament. After counting two-thirds of the votes, there was a 69 percent majority in favor of the House of Commons having 400 instead of 630 members and the Senate of 200 instead of 315 senators, as announced by the Interior Ministry. The five-star movement claimed that the referendum result was a success in itself, although there had been support from other parties to reduce the size of parliament.
Their goal is to save tax money with a smaller parliament. They also expect greater efficiency. The opponents spoke of a half-baked reform, since, in addition to the decrease in the number of parliamentarians, more changes were necessary in the Italian electoral law. They also argue that the reduction could increase the power of individual deputies and that one delegate will have to represent more citizens in the future.
Worried glances at Tuscany
At the same time as the referendum, regional and mayor elections were held in seven of the 20 regions. They were considered the first test of courage for the center-left government formed by the five-star movement and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s Social Democrats since the start of the Corona crisis and the associated months of strict curfew with its serious consequences for the economy. .
The result in Tuscany, which has been firmly in the hands of the left for decades, was eagerly awaited. According to polls, the candidate of the right-wing Lega of former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, the European MP Susanna Ceccardi, was able to calculate her chances of victory. But meanwhile, the Social Democratic candidate, Eugenio Giani, declared herself the winner, and Ceccardi admitted defeat. If Tuscany had actually been conquered by the Lega, this probably would have caused a political earthquake to the capital, Rome.
Mood test result: undecided
By contrast, center-right candidates won in at least two other regions. Salvinis Lega celebrated an unusually high triumph in Veneto. And so the party leader applauded on Facebook: “If the data is confirmed, the Lega and the center-right will be behind the wheel in 15 of the 20 regions as of tomorrow.”
Several government ministers in Rome, however, saw the election results as a confirmation of the center-left coalition in Rome, including Culture Minister Dario Franceschini. The head of the Social Democrats, Nicola Zingaretti, also expressed his satisfaction.
Due to the corona pandemic, strict distance and hygiene rules were applied at polling stations. Numerous volunteers in protective suits visited eligible voters at home to allow them to vote.
