Marco Travaglio’s guide to the referendum. Why are we going to vote on September 20 and 21? – Video

What is the perfect number of deputies? The question has already been raised by the constituent fathers elected in 1946 (556 in all). And of course they answered that the perfect number does not exist: it is a pure convention that, as such, can change according to times and circumstances. The Assembly was divided between those who, like the liberals Einaudi and Nitti, the republicans Conti and Perassi and the communist Nobile, wanted a more agile, representative and efficient body (3-400 deputies and half senators), and those who, like the communist Terracini and the independent Ruini: he thought that quantity was synonymous with quality. In the end, the Constitution decided not to set a precise number, but rather an elastic criterion: one deputy for every 80,000 inhabitants or a fraction of more than 40,000; one senator for every 200 thousand inhabitants or a fraction of more than 100 thousand. Result: in the first three legislatures the number of parliamentarians changed three times as the population grew. In I (1948-’53) there were 574 deputies and 237 senators; in II (1953-’58) 590 and 237; in III (1958-’63) 596 and 246. But by this point democracy had already degenerated into partitocracy and in fact in early 1963, a few months before the elections, the majority of the government of Fanfani IV (DC, Psdi and Pri with the external support of the PSI) approved a constitutional law that modified the number of elected officials for the fourth time, multiplying the seats far beyond the proportion established by the Charter: 630 deputies and 315 senators (plus lifetime ones). It is that DC brand law, not the Constitution, that today defends those who campaign for the No: the Constituent Fathers have nothing to do with it.

At that time the legislative power was entrusted exclusively to Parliament. Then in 1970 came the Regions and later the European Parliament. And our elected legislators doubled, from almost 945 to 1918 (945 MPs, 897 regional councilors, 76 MPs to the European Parliament). Thus it was that since the 1980s not the 5 Stars, even within Jupiter, most parties, jurists and public opinion were convinced that Parliament should be thinned: in line with the elective chambers of the other great democracies, everything but our full and expensive. The first constitutional reform that reversed the march with respect to the 1963 law was that of the commission chaired by the liberal Aldo Bozzi in 1983: aborted in Parliament. Then that of the De Mita-Iotti commission of 1993-’94: aborted in Parliament. Then that of the Bicameral D’Alema from 1997-’99: aborted in Parliament. The party game was clear: promise cuts to the world’s most unpopular breed and use them to hide various filth; then arguing because there was too much meat on the fire and leaving everything as before, even worse.

The turning point was the terrifying Return of B. & Bossi, which repealed more than a third of the Constitution and used the cut of the elected as a red herring: effectively passed imposed by majority vote in 2005, fortunately it was rejected by the voters in the 2006 referendum. Same script ten years later with the Renzi-Boschi-Verdini counter-reform, which repealed more than a third of the Constitution and gilt the pill with the usual cut (but only in the Senate): imposed by the center-left after four readings in 2015, it was sacrosanctly rejected by the voters in the 2016 referendum. The message of the Italian people was clear: no more constitutional reforms that force voters to “take it or leave it” with different and heterogeneous rules; We want mini-reforms “step by step”, punctual, surgical and shared as far as possible, to correct or update very few articles of the Charter and allow citizens to vote homogeneously and informed. All in line with the spirit of article 138, which provides for limited changes, not huge and indistinct blocks.

Thus was born in this legislature the constitutional bill “Quagliariello-Fraccaro”, which incorporates the twin projects of the center-right exponent and 5Stelle (and that of the Democratic Party of 2008) to reduce the parliamentarians from 945 to 600 r and complies with both requirements. all invoked: it is punctual (modifies the three articles of the Charter on the number of elected deputies: 56, 57 and 59) and shared (thanks to the 5 Stelle that have made it a condition for the pact with the League and for the alliance with the center was approved in the four readings with majorities of 59, 49, 57 and 88%). Since two thirds were not reached in the first “second reading”, it was possible to resort to the “confirmatory” referendum and remove the bitter cup. Thus FI and Lega -after approving the reform four out of four occasions- have collected the necessary signatures of 71 senators: it is for these traitors, who represent only 7.5% of parliamentarians, that on Sunday and Monday we will vote one law passed by everything and a promise for 40 years. If No wins, Parliament has an excellent excuse to stop self-reforms and perhaps regain lost privileges (annuities in the first place). If Yes wins, a new electoral law is imposed and the Benaltristi who prefer the salary cut to elected officials may also be satisfied.

As of Monday, if Yes wins, Il Fatto will launch a campaign to adjust the salaries of parliamentarians to those of European colleagues and, above all, for an electoral law that restores to voters the power to choose their own representatives : less in number, but better. As Einaudi loved them.