(ANSA) - Rome, October 7 - The Senate on Wednesday approved Article 21 of the government's Constitutional reform bill, which changes the way the president of the Republic is elected. The motion passed with 161 in favor, three nays and five abstaining.
Earlier it also passed tarticles 12, 13 and 14 of the government's Constitutional reform bill.
Article 12, which was okayed with with 168 votes in favour, 103 against and four abstentions, rewrites Article 72 of the Constitution to regulate the new procedures for bills in a revamped parliament.
Article 13, which was approved with 170 votes in favour, 111 against and four abstentions, regulates the approval of laws in a revamped parliamentary set-up. It was okayed with 170 votes in favour, 111 against and four abstentions.
Article 14 went through with 169 votes in favour, 111 against and five abstentions.
Article 17 went through with 153 votes in favour, 107 against and nine abstentions. However, 14 members of Premier Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party bucked party orders and voted in favour of an amendment tabled by one of them, Nerina Dirindin. The rejected amendment said that an "absolute majority" of MPs should be needed for a declaration of war. Five other PD lawmakers did not vote, but the government was helped by 28 votes from members of Silvio Berlusconi's opposition Forza Italia (FI).
The opposition parties have called a press conference at which they will announce that they intend to write to President Sergio Mattarella asking him to intervene over the government's Constitutional reform bill, Senate sources said on Wednesday. The bill, which is currently in the Upper House for its third parliamentary reading, aims to overhaul Italy's slow, costly political machinery and features a controversial transformation of the Senate into a leaner assembly of local-government representatives with limited powers.
Opposition parties are unhappy about how Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso is handling procedures.
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