The Lower House constitutional
affairs committee on Wednesday approved a Constitutional reform
bill that would, among other things, transform the Senate into a
leaner assembly with limited lawmaking powers.
Premier Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party (PD), the New
Center Right (NCD) of Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, and
Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) voted in favor, the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the opposition Left
Ecology Freedom (SEL) voted against while the anti-immigrant
Northern League abstained.
The deadline for filing amendments to the text now going to
the floor of the Lower House is November 24, sources said.
The Constitutional reform bill completed its first
parliamentary reading in August, clearing the Senate with 183
votes in favour, four abstentions and no votes against, after
parties opposed to the package snubbed the final vote.
The bill is designed to overhaul Italy's slow, costly
political machinery, responding to dissatisfaction at the ruling
class's ineffectiveness in solving the country's economic woes,
in fighting corruption and in curbing its many privileges.
The central part of the package is the transformation of
the Senate into a leaner assembly of local government
representatives with minimal lawmaking powers to save and make
passing legislation easier.
At the moment the Senate and the Lower House are equally
powerful and every piece of legislation has to be approved in
both, which can make it difficult for governments to get laws
through parliament.
The revamped Senate's responsibilities are to be largely
restricted to Constitutional matters and its members will not
get extra salaries on top of their earnings for the local level
jobs.
The new Senate will be made up of 100 members, compared to
the present figure of 315, plus several life Senators.
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