‘Italy’s electoral law breaches constitution’

Most politicians agree, at least in public, that the electoral rules which helped produce a hung parliament after February’s national vote must change to give Italy a chance of forming a stable government. But despite repeated exhortations from business leaders, union chiefs and President Giorgio Napolitano, progress on voting reform has long been blocked by parties worried that a new system could damage their electoral chances. ‘Now there is no more room for excuses from anyone, we have to move, quickly, to change the law,’ said Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, whose breakaway group from Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right is a key part of the fragile ruling coalition. The ruling is not retro-active and therefore does not affect the status or validity of the current parliament, a source close to the constitutional court told Reuters.

It may actually reduce the danger of an imminent collapse of Prime Minister’s Enrico Letta’s coalition because it would be difficult to contemplate dissolving parliament before the voting law has been overhauled.