Rome, 26 May (LaPresse) – “The government is playing hide-and-seek with the electoral law: rumours are leaking out in the press, ministers are speaking out, but then the actual texts are nowhere to be seen in committee. There must be clarity and transparency in the legislative process and no rushing: from this point of view, the June deadline indicated by Minister Ciriani is unacceptable in the absence of a text that will, in any case, profoundly alter the Bignami bill – it will effectively be a completely new text.” This was stated this morning in the Constitutional Affairs Committee by the secretary of +Europa, Riccardo Magi. “As for the substance of the reform proposed by the government and the majority,” added Magi, “if the main objective were to bring citizens closer to democratic participation through the electoral process, this law contains no elements useful for strengthening the popular vote through greater freedom of choice: this can be achieved through various means such as constituencies, preferential voting or a two-round system, but this law contains none of these elements. Instead, it is a law entirely skewed towards serving a majority, specifically the majority that currently forms the government. As far as we are concerned, this is the main reason for our opposition to this proposal: a law designed to ensure the self-preservation of those currently governing the country. A self-preservation that it even seeks to guarantee through a mechanism that has no equal in any democracy: a bonus that is not a majority bonus, but a bonus for the minority to turn it into a majority. A minority in the country becomes a majority in parliament through a distortion of proportional representation. There is also a fundamental element of the ancillary electoral legislation contained in the bill co-sponsored by me which represents a decisive factor for the quality of democracy, namely the possibility of access to electoral competition, which must not and cannot be considered a privilege reserved for those already in parliament: in no other country in the European Union is there a system similar to ours, requiring such a high number of signatures to be collected across all constituencies. This is a point we will fight for because, as we know, currently every time electoral decrees are issued in the run-up to elections, there is a habit of amending the rules in a piecemeal manner and solely for that particular election, determining who can and cannot participate in the elections whilst benefiting from the exemption: we believe, however, that this approach would allow for a comprehensive reform that is clear, transparent and fair for everyone,” concludes Magi.
Electoral law, Magi: ‘The majority is playing hide and seek – where is the new draft?’
Rome, 26 May (LaPresse) – “The government is playing hide-and-seek with the electoral law: rumours are leaking out in the press, ministers are speaking out, but then the actual texts are nowhere to be seen in committee. There must be clarity and transparency in the legislative process and no rushing: from this point of view, the June deadline indicated by Minister Ciriani is unacceptable in the absence of a text that will, in any case, profoundly alter the Bignami bill – it will effectively be a completely new text.” This was stated this morning in the Constitutional Affairs Committee by the secretary of +Europa, Riccardo Magi. “As for the substance of the reform proposed by the government and the majority,” added Magi, “if the main objective were to bring citizens closer to democratic participation through the electoral process, this law contains no elements useful for strengthening the popular vote through greater freedom of choice: this can be achieved through various means such as constituencies, preferential voting or a two-round system, but this law contains none of these elements. Instead, it is a law entirely skewed towards serving a majority, specifically the majority that currently forms the government. As far as we are concerned, this is the main reason for our opposition to this proposal: a law designed to ensure the self-preservation of those currently governing the country. A self-preservation that it even seeks to guarantee through a mechanism that has no equal in any democracy: a bonus that is not a majority bonus, but a bonus for the minority to turn it into a majority. A minority in the country becomes a majority in parliament through a distortion of proportional representation. There is also a fundamental element of the ancillary electoral legislation contained in the bill co-sponsored by me which represents a decisive factor for the quality of democracy, namely the possibility of access to electoral competition, which must not and cannot be considered a privilege reserved for those already in parliament: in no other country in the European Union is there a system similar to ours, requiring such a high number of signatures to be collected across all constituencies. This is a point we will fight for because, as we know, currently every time electoral decrees are issued in the run-up to elections, there is a habit of amending the rules in a piecemeal manner and solely for that particular election, determining who can and cannot participate in the elections whilst benefiting from the exemption: we believe, however, that this approach would allow for a comprehensive reform that is clear, transparent and fair for everyone,” concludes Magi.
