The Senate on Tuesday approved
Article 10 of the government's 41-article Constitutional reform
bill, also known as the Boschi bill after Reform Minister Maria
Elena Boschi.
The article modifies Article 70 of the Constitution, which
says "the legislative function is exercised jointly by both
Houses" of parliament.
The motion passed with 165 in favor, 107 against and five
abstaining.
The article is a keystone of Premier Matteo Renzi's
flagship reform, which aims to overhaul Italy's slow, costly
political machinery by streamlining the Upper House into a
leaner assembly - made up of 100 members instead of the current
315 - with limited lawmaking powers.
This will make passing laws easier and save money, the
center-left premier says.
The Upper House earlier rejected an amendment by a leftwing
dissenting minority within the premier's Democratic Party (PD),
which would have returned some lawmaking powers to the Senate,
including on ethical issues.
The PD minority had withdrawn that amendment, but it was
re-filed by the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S).
Silvio Berlusconi's center-right Forza Italia (FI) party
also went on the record against Article 10, condemning it as
undemocratic.
"We're slamming the country against a wall of
non-democracy," FI Senator Antonio D'Ali said in announcing his
caucus' intention of voting against the motion. "We are not
driven by obstructionist intent and this afternoon we cleared
the field of over 240,000 amendments to prove the opposition has
positive intentions," he added. The opposition, rightwing and
anti-immigrant Northern League party has in the past tried to
saddle the Boschi bill with millions of amendments in a bid to
obstruct its passage.
The Senate earlier approved Article 7 of the Boschi bill,
which regulates the credentials for admission as a member of the
revamped Upper House. That motion passed with 166 votes in
favour, 56 against and five abstaining.
Article 7 was put to a vote after FI and the Northern
League withdrew tens of thousands of amendments, asking in
exchange for more time to debate Article 10.
However, that article also passed without a problem for the
majority coalition.
Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso closed the session early and
thanked Senators for their "cooperation" in voting on hundreds
of amendments.
"It's been an intense, tense and tiring session," Grasso
said.
The final Senate vote on the Boschi bill, which is going
through its third reading in parliament, is set to take place by
October 13.
Renzi wants the bill to embark on its fourth reading in
parliament in January ahead of a ratification referendum later
next year.
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