Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has passed a new electoral system reform in Italy, shifting to a fully proportional structure with bonus seats for the most popular party or coalition. Approved on October 8, 2026, by a vote of 227 to 164, the changes scrap first-past-the-post seats and introduce up to 70 bonus seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 35 in the Senate for parties securing at least 42% of votes. Supporters argue this will ensure stable majority governments, while critics claim it favors Meloni's ruling coalition ahead of upcoming elections.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
With just more than a year to go before her coalition government has to step down for election, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has successfully introduced a set of reforms in parliament to overhaul the European country’s electoral system to introduce a fully proportional structure with ‘bonus seats’ for the most popular party or coalition.
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Minister → go → party
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The approval for the reforms comes weeks after Ms. Meloni’s centre-right coalition, in its first term, became the longest-serving administration in the country since the Second World War, and the move has been heralded by its supporters as key to ensure political stability.
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move → come → stability
However, critics and Opposition lawmakers have raised concerns, saying that the overhaul is aimed at ensuring that the ruling coalition, trailing in opinion polls, hold on to power.
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coalition → raise → power
What was the existing system in Italy?
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system → exist → Italy
The fact that Ms. Meloni’s administration made the record for the longest continuous post-war reign in its first term shows that Italian politicians have always had trouble staying in power.
Following the Second World War and the end of the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, the ‘first republic’ devised the parliament in such a way that it would be difficult for a single party to consolidate power.
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party → make → power
While the whole system has gone through multiple changes thorugh the years, the complex multi-member constituencies and proportional representation at the base incentivised coalitions and ensured decentralisation.
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constituencies → go → decentralisation
The system that brought Ms. Meloni to power in 2022 was a hybrid one, nicknamed ‘Rosatellum’ after independent lawmaker Ettore Rosato, where roughly 64% of seats in both the 400-member Chamber of Deputies and the 200-member Senate were decided through proportional representation while the remaining 36% seats went to first-past-the-post winners.
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seats → bring → winners
While first-past-the-post seats gave popular candidates entry into parliament and proportional representation, where seat allocation for a party or coalition was decided based on its vote share, ensured that smaller and regional had their voices in parliament.
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smaller → give → parliament
The new rules, approved by lawmakers in a secret ballot on Thursday (October 8, 2026) with 227 votes against 164, scraps the first-past-the-post seats and puts the whole parliament under proportional representation.
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rules → approve → representation
While similar systems have existed previously, the contentious/ambitious clause guarantees up to 70 bonus seats in the Chamber, and 35 in the Senate, to the party or coalition that secure at least 42% votes.
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that → exist → votes
This, according to the supporters of the rules, will ensure that polls that would in other cases turn out inconclusive could still produce a majority government with enough strength to run the parliament.
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that → accord → parliament
If several parties or coalitions go past the 42% mark, the bonus will be awarded to the entity with the most votes.
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bonus → go → votes
The ‘bonus seats’ are capped to prevent any party or coalition from getting more than 220 seats in the Chamber and 113 in the Senate.
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seats → cap → Senate
The rules have also set a bar on entry for parties or coalitions to parliament, with coalitions having to secure at least 10% votes and individual parties 3% to be considered for seat-sharing under the representation system.
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% → set → system
The reforms have also raised the number of signatures needed for new parties or those that are currently not in parliament from 1,500 to 6,000, a move critics say would make it difficult for smaller parties to enter parliament.
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parties → raise → parliament
How is the Prime Minister and her allies seeing the reform?
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Minister → see → reform
Ms. Meloni has projected the reforms as a way to ensure that Italy will always have a stable government with the bonus seats giving popular coalitions the required majority in parliament.
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seats → project → parliament
“Stable governments and greater participation mean more continuity, more accountability, and a greater ability to provide concrete answers to Italians,” the Prime Minister wrote in a social media post after the reforms were approved.
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reforms → mean → post
Calling the changes a “revolution”, Giovanni Donzelli, a senior leader of Ms. Meloni’s party, told AFP that “Italians will finally have the real weight with their vote as the will choose the coalition, the platform, and the candidate for Prime Minister”.
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the → call → Minister
While the administration has touted the reforms as a step towards political stability, major Opposition parties, who are leading in opinion polls with the tenure of the current government ending in December 2027, has flagged attempts by Ms. Meloni to stay in power.
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tenure → tout → power
Calling the reforms a “mess”, Guiseppe Conte, former Prime Minister and leader of opposition Five Stars Movement told the AFP that it is a “convoluted scheme devised solely to find a formula to gain an advantage in the upcoming elections”.
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it → call → elections
The rise of a new far-right party, the National Future, led by former General Roberto Vannacci, is also eroding Ms. Meloni’s vote base, meaning she would find it hard to garner an outright majority for her coalition in the next general election.
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it → lead → election
Opposition parties have vowed to challenge the reforms in court, where, they believe, most of the new provisions could be struck down, a possibility that could encourage Ms. Meloni to trust her odds with the new provisions and call a snap election.
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that → vow → election
The Aporia
