Premier Matteo Renzi and ex
premier Silvio Berlusconi agreed in a meeting Wednesday to speed
up Senate debate of the government's electoral reform bill, an
official from the premier's Democratic Party (PD) said.
The bill, nicknamed the Italicum, is the result of a deal
between Renzi and Berlusconi and has already cleared the Lower
House.
It sets out to replace the dysfunctional system that
contributed to the inconclusive outcome to last year's general
election and was declared unconstitutional.
It sets bars for small parties to force them into alliances
and limit their veto power, and provides a 15% winner's bonus
for a coalition that gets 37% to ensure it has a working
majority in parliament.
It also contemplates a run-off vote for the bonus
seats if no coalition reaches the 37% threshold.
As well, the two leaders "absolutely did not" discuss the
possibility of snap elections, PD Deputy Secretary Lorenzo
Guerini said after the meeting.
Renzi said Tuesday a snap election might be a good option
for him but Italy comes first, and he will not go to the polls
before a sweeping 1,000-day reform programme is enacted in early
2017.
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