Next Tuesday the Senate Constitutional Affairs Commission will vote on the heart of the Casellati bill on the elective premiership, i.e. the government's amendment that rewrites the article on the direct election of the prime minister.
Marcello Pera anticipated his position by announcing a "favourable vote but with grumbling".
In fact, the President Emeritus of the Senate has made the criticisms of the opposition his own.
These have pressed the government, asking it to immediately indicate the electoral law, on which even the president of the Commission and rapporteur, Alberto Balboni, admitted that there are difficult issues to resolve.
The Palazzo Madama Commission has concluded the examination and vote on the more than 600 sub-amendments of the opposition to the government's amendment which rewrites article 3 of the Casellati bill, which provides for the direct election of the prime minister.
Compared to the original text, the indication that the majority bonus is 55% of the seats is removed, the limit of two mandates is introduced and the power of dismissal of ministers is added to that of appointment for the prime minister.
After a marathon lasting dozens of sessions, it was decided to postpone the vote until Tuesday, to give time for discussion and explanations of vote.
Marcello Pera, however, announced a favorable vote but "with critical comments" which he hoped would be considered in the next steps.
And these are serious findings.
First of all, he said that direct elections were not necessary: "Just give the prime minister whose coalition wins the elections the necessary powers."
Arguments supported by the opposition who have once again asked Minister Maria Elisabetta Casellati to indicate from now on the electoral law that the government intends to couple with the premiership, a request that Fi and Lega had also made on Tuesday.
Casellati reiterated that the electoral law will arrive only after the first reading of the reform by the Senate and the Chamber, when the definitive structure of the constitutional reform will be had.
A position also supported by Balboni and the Fdi group leader Marco Lisei.
However, Balboni, responding to the interventions of the Democratic Party (with Dario Parrini and Andrea Giorgis), of Avs (Peppe De Cristofaro) and M5s (Alessandra Maiorino), admitted that there are problems to be solved.
For example, if there are three ballots (one for the prime minister candidate and the other two for the House and Senate), it could happen that there is a separate vote between the prime minister's ballot and those for the two Chambers.
Or that the threshold is exceeded by a coalition only in one Chamber;
or, again, that there are opposite results between the Chambers and the Senate.
"What do we do in this last case? - asked Parrini - are the elections repeated? Do we not award the prize and make a proportional distribution of the seats?"
Minister Casellati then responded to a criticism from IV group leader Enrico Borghi, for the absence of about twenty minutes at Tuesday evening's session, when the Council of Ministers was still in progress.
Borghi spoke of "lack of respect towards Parliament" but Casellati replied by speaking of "intolerable falsehoods", recalling his "constant presence" at the sessions.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA