Italicum ruling tomorrow (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, January 24 - The Constitutional Court's ruling on the 'Italicum' electoral law will come tomorrow at "around 13:00-13:30," the court's secretary-general, Carlo Visconti, said Tuesday. The top court is set to rule on whether a number of aspects of the law, especially its run-off, winner's bonus and 'blocked' list leaders, comply with the Italian Constitution. The Constitutional Court opened a public hearing on Tuesday morning to examine the legitimacy of the 'Italicum'. A decision is expected late on Tuesday or on Wednesday.
    The court is called upon to consider the legitimacy of various aspects of the law, including the bonus seats it awards to the winning party to ensure it has a working majority and the run-off round of voting to decide the winner if no single party reaches the 40% threshold. The Italicum was designed only to apply to the Lower House as, under the Constitutional reform rejected on December 4, the Senate was meant to be reformed and made up of regional representatives. The fact that the Constitutional Court was set to rule on the Italicum is considered one of the reasons why President Sergio Mattarella did not heed calls for early elections from opposition parties when ex-premier Matteo Renzi quit last month after his flagship Constitutional revamp was rejected. Renzi was replaced by current Premier Paolo Gentiloni, the former foreign minister.
    Gentiloni is a member of Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD).