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Roberto Serra – Iguana Press via Getty Images
Linear cut, vulnus of representation, weight of territories, governability, anti-politics. “That is why many reasons for No do not hold.” The constitutionalist Gustavo Zagrebelsky in an interview with “Il Fatto Quotidiano” dismantled the so-called “reasons for No” in the referendum on Sunday and Monday. “The ‘cut’ of the parliamentarians would be bad because it is ‘linear’. How many times have we heard that? Since I don’t like to hear the trivial language of those who talk about chair cuts, I feel like saying: maybe a cubic or spherical cut is better? ”.
On the risk of creating a vulnus of representation: “By reducing the numbers, the threshold for accessing the parliamentary seat is implicitly raised. This creates difficulties for small parties and brings with it a majority effect. This is a serious argument, but not necessarily in favor of No “, and then underlines:” It depends on what you think in terms of political representation. And ask yourself: “Are small and very small parties good or bad for democracy?”
The constitutionalist later affirms that “the deputies and senators are not the representatives of the territories. This idea is reminiscent of an ancient time, the Old Regime “while the territories” on the contrary must express themselves politically. I emphasize: politically “and” the deputies and senators ‘represent the nation without restriction of mandate’ “.
And as for the issue of governance, “it depends on the structure of the political system and much less on the electoral system.” As for the retouching of bicameralism, Zagrebelsky puts it this way: “I am in favor of maintaining two Chambers, differentiated by composition, procedures and functions.”
Regarding the hypothesis that the choice of Yes would reinforce the so-called pernicious feelings of anti-politics, Zagrebelsky responds: “If anti-political and anti-parliamentary feelings exist, and there are, it is not that the prevalence of Yes strengthens them. It would simply give them expression and oblige the parties to recognize them and act accordingly to neutralize the factors that fuel the anti-politics and that, very often, depend on them ”.
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