A bill to give 16-year-olds the
vote is coming up, Foreign Minister and 5-Star Movement (M5S)
chief Luigi Di Maio said Tuesday.
Italians currently qualify to vote for the House at 18 and
the Senate at 25.
Di Maio said the M5S would present a constitutional bill to
lower the age to 16 "in the next few days".
Premier Giuseppe Conte and Di Maio said Monday that they were
in favour of lowering the voting age to 16.
"Lowering the voting threshold to 16 is fine by me," said
Conte.
"They already have it in other countries," he said.
"We still haven't started discussing it in the government but
we could do: but it might be better to do it in parliament".
Di Maio said via Facebook: "Giving the vote to 16-year-olds
is a proposal that we have always been behind and which we
support strongly".
"In Italy young people are called choosy, spoilt, 'Gretini',
('little Gretas', referring to climate crisis activist Greta
Thunberg).
"As far as we are concerned, these people should be
respected, listened to and put at the centre of our political
world.
"If a 16-year-old can work and pay taxes, they should also
have the right to vote and decide who makes decisions about
their life".
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