March 23: A First Step Towards Italy's New Government
Today, March 23, is a crucial day for the political future of Italy. The two chambers of the Italian Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, are taking the first step towards the creation a new legislature: the new members of the parliament will elect the heads of each chamber. The voting systems are different for each chamber and both very complicated: almost certainly, three or four rounds of voting will be necessary in order to choose the winning candidates. For the Chamber of Deputies, a qualified majority of two-thirds is required for the first three rounds of voting, with the first round including all members of the Chamber and the second and third rounds include the voting members only, while the fourth round of voting only requires an absolute majority. For the Senate, the first and second rounds of voting require the absolute majority of all members of the Senate, with the third round only including those who have voted and the fourth round consisting in a run-off between the two candidates who received the most votes during the third round.
Senator-for-life Giorgio Napolitano during today,s introductory speech at the Italian Parliament, Source: La Repubblica
Consensus is difficult to achieve because the voting is done by secret ballot and parties cannot align their votes in order to produce a majority based on political alliances.
The session started today at 10.30 am for the Chambers of Deputies and at 11.00 am for the Senate,
The Chamber of Deputies is chaired by the current Deputy and member of the Democratic Party Roberto Giacchetti since he is the oldest among the former vice-presidents of the Chamber. The Senate is chaired by 92-year-old former President of the Italian Republic and Senator-for-Life* Giorgio Napolitano, as the oldest Senator in the current parliament.
The lack of agreement and the subsequent failure of the first vote to confirm the heads of the two chambers of parliament is just the tip of the iceberg of a wider political stalemate after the outcome of Italy’s general elections held on March, 4, where no clear majority has emerged (see old article).
We hope they find a solution and the Italian Parliament does not end up like the Titanic.
*The Italian Senate includes 6 Senators who are appointed for life terms and are entitled to vote in the Senate
