(supersedes previous)Democracy
doesn't mean obstructionism, Premier Matteo Renzi told the Lower
House on Monday ahead of a final vote on his constitutional
reform bill.
"Democracy doesn't mean obstructionism or preventing other
from voting or running away from the chamber," he said.
"Democracy is debate followed by free expression through
voting. Saying democracy is being harmed here means being at
odds with reality and thinking the Italian people can't grasp
what is going on. Running away from debate indicates a lack of
arguments".
The premier pointed out a total of 83,722,708 amendments
have been filed to his constitutional reform bill while it was
debated in 173 sessions of parliament.
"Now I ask you, who is did the manipulating here - those
who were open to debating the bill in all venues... or those who
brought 83 million amendments with the sole purpose of not
debating the points of convergence on their merit?" he asked.
Opposition lawmakers who walked out on him today won't hold
on to their seats for long, the center-left premier warned.
"When election time comes around they will be left out of
parliament, which I don't think will be a problem for the vast
majority of voters," he said.
Under Italian law, any changes to the Constitution must be
approved by popular referendum. Renzi's reform would, among
other things, reduce the Senate from its current 300 members to
an assembly of 100 regional officials with limited lawmaking
powers in a bid to break the gridlock Italian politics is famous
for.
Renzi has said in the past he is prepared to quit if the
referendum nixes his reform.
Italian Left (SI), a splinter of Renzi's Democratic Party
(PD), joined the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) and
the rightwing, anti-immigrant Northern League in walking out
during the premier's speech.
The three opposition parties earlier called for a
postponement of the final vote on the government's reform bill
until after a no-confidence vote scheduled April 19.
The Renzi government faces the no-confidence vote over an
oil probe that has rocked the executive and caused Federica
Guidi to resign as industry minister earlier this month.
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