Italy's senate approves proposed constitutional reform on direct election of prime minister

The Italian Senate has approved a controversial constitutional reform put forward by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government. A total of 109 members voted in favour of the reform in the smaller of the two chambers of Parliament in Rome on Tuesday, with 77 against. The reform still faces several more hurdles before it can become law. [ . . . ] The constitutional reform stipulates that in future the Prime Minister would be directly elected for five years and the coalition supporting the winning candidate would be given at least 55 per cent of seats in both Houses of Parliament to make sure it has a workable majority. [ . . .] The 109 votes secured in the Senate fell well short of the two-thirds majority needed for constitutional changes in both chambers in Italy. It is also not expected to receive such a majority in the Chamber of Deputies. If the two-thirds majorities are not secured, the measure has to be put to a referendum.
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