Italian Elections and Politics 2022 - Our Time to Schlein

[Velasco]

I wonder if the new party launched by Renzi is going to be more similar to En Marche! or Ciudadanos. I have more doubts, however, concerning the viability of the project.

[Velasco]

Jesus, so what's next, new elections?

Whiplash from the PD-M5S government in the works.

The decision is in Mattarella's hands

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/20/italy-and-matteo-salvini-face-uncertainty-after-pms-resignation

Mattarella has three options: immediately dissolve parliament and call a snap election; begin consultations with parties to see if a new parliamentary majority can be formed; or install a caretaker government to at least pass Italy’s budget for 2020.

[Velasco]

That's a good point, yeah. I think there is genuine fear of an all-powerful Salvini among the PD's ranks (motivated both by cynical and altruistic considerations). It's hard to explain Renzi's about-face about governing with M5S or Zingaretti's insistence on making it work in the face of repeated humiliations otherwise.


Confidence vote will be Monday in the House, Tuesday in the Senate.

This summer Salvini was saying he wanted "full powers". Consider the sinister implications of the two words. The fear within PD ranks was justified. Also, it's remarkable that apparently Salvini fell out the Trump's favour due to his double play with Russia. In spite I find Luigi Di Maio even more disturbing than Albert Rivera, I'm glad that PD reached and agreement with M5S. The change of government in Italy and the recent developments in the British Parliament give some breathing space. I hope the new Conte government lasts enough and everything goes well, although there are signs of economic slowdown everywhere.

[Velasco]

I heard Berlusconi was one of the first fleeing Lombardy before the lockdown. Now he is living in Nice, where he owns a palace. I'm thinking of rats and sinking ships

[Velasco]

Well, I think that advocating seat reduction as the remedy for the diseases affecting the political system is a rather simplistic and demagogic approach. That sort of fetishism involving the reduction in size of parliaments or government institutions is not exclusive to the M5S. The seat reduction is not good or bad a priori, it's a matter of proportion. The question is: do 400 deputies and 200 senators ensure an addequate and proportional representation of all regions and territories? I tend to think the proposed size is too small. but I'd like to know the opinion of our Italian friends.

[Velasco]

Why can't you just abolish the Senate? What's argument against unicameralism in Italy?

Why should we abolish the Senate? What's the argument for unicameralism in Italy?

Answering a question with a question is annoying so please avoid doing that.

Unicameralism is the default in a non-federal parliamentary system as it's cheaper and more efficient, so you need an argument for why bicameralism is necessary. In a federal system one of the chambers represents the states or provinces, but in a unitary state it essentially serves no valid purpose other than - ideally - making the legislative procedure more thorough, but that's often a bogus argument and it doesn't seem to apply to Italy.

So I'll repeat my question: "Why can't you just abolish the Senate? What is the argument against unicameralism in Italy?"

I am sorry if I was annoying, but the fact is I have never seen much discussion about unicameralism. I can't tell you what's the argument against unicameralism in Italy if no one is proposing unicameralism in Italy!

I think I have already explained what purpose I find in our system.
If you ask me why it was created this way in the first place, the honest answer is that I haven't read the works of the Constituent Assembly enough to know.

I might be wrong but I think Italian 'perfect' bicameralism was a compromise solution adopted by the constituents in 1948, since the right rejected the unicameral model proposed by the left and the latter rejected the idea of a corporative Senate. I know little about these complex matters, but I think the constitutional text left some room for the creation of a regional senate, although the idea was never developed as Italy hasn't gone too far along the road to a decentralized state.

[Velasco]

So overall the regional elections weren't too bad for the centre-left?

Retaining Tuscany, Campania and Puglia was important for the centre-left, especially the former. Add to this that the referendum on the constitutional reform proposed by M5S was successful and the result is that the Conte government is reinforced However, the right retains Veneto and other bastions and Fratelli D'Italia is about to snatch the Marche region

[Velasco]

I think you can explain this chart better than me