Italy decides in a referendum whether to reduce the number of deputies by a third

View of the Italian Senate during an appearance by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on July 28.Mondadori Portfolio / Mondadori Portfolio via Getty im

A populist gale swept through old Italian politics in March 2018 and laid the foundations for a discourse that had been permeating over the last decade.

Now, two years later, Italians are once again called to the polls in a referendum to decide on a central issue in this new way of seeing politics.

Is the number of parliamentarians relevant to the functioning of democracy?

Are there too many people in the Chambers who do not contribute anything to said mechanic?

The 5 Star Movement (M5S), the epitome of the populist current that shook Italy at that time, thinks so.

That is why he promoted a law to reform the Constitution and reduce the number of seats in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies by a third and make Italy one of the countries with the least parliamentary representation.

Victory was assured before the summer.

But the referendums - former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi lived it in his flesh when he had to resign in 2016 - also serve to punish whoever calls them;

and today nobody knows what will happen next Monday.

On the same days that the new government of seven Italian regions will be elected (September 20 and 21), citizens of the entire country will also have to comment on this possible cut in the number of parliamentarians.

The initiative was approved a few months ago in both Houses, but without

sufficient

, two thirds, to prevent citizens from voting.

The consultation was scheduled for March, but the pandemic forced it to be postponed to this Sunday and Monday.

In essence, it supposes a constitutional modification that theoretically would make it possible to reduce the expenses of the two Houses and increase the control over the representatives.

That is the ideological base on which the M5S has built its campaign: too many people who charge too much money and do nothing.

The premise, in addition to distilling a strong populist character, is not even verified and the figures speak of little relevant savings.

The Government (Democratic Party, M5S and Italia Viva) support it, although the Social Democrats (PD) had voted up to twice against it in the past.

For some constitutionalists, the abolition of a third of the parliamentarians, in reality, represents a first step towards the end of the perfect bicameral system - which makes decision-making so difficult in Italy - because in reality it would hide the will to reduce powers little by little to the Senate, something Renzi tried unsuccessfully before his downfall.

Stefano Ceccanti, a PD deputy and expert on the matter, believes that Italy's perfect bicameralism must come to an end in order to speed up decision-making.

"This will be a minimal reform, but it can gradually lead to the union of both Chambers and the fundamental decisions being made in only one: as is the case in Spain," he says on the phone.

The reform, which would not come into force until the end of the legislature (2023), plans to reduce the seats in the Chamber of Deputies from 630 to 400. And in the Senate from 315 to 200. Today there is one deputy for every 96,000 inhabitants and one senator for every 188,000 citizens.

With the reform, this representation would be reduced and Italy would become one of the EU countries with the least number of deputies in relation to its population.

It would have one for every 151,000 inhabitants.

Spain would lag behind with one for every 133,000.

Regarding the number of senators, on the other hand, Germany and Poland would be below.

The victory of the

to the reduction of the number of parliamentarians was taken for granted in the polls until a few weeks ago.

Limiting spending and ending the alleged privileges granted by the Chambers did not provoke any debate in times of economic and social uncertainty.

But the internal polls of the parties have warned of a notable increase in citizens who prefer to maintain the number of current representatives because they consider that it will not mean any savings and, above all, because they do not want to concede that victory to the M5S.

Many of the voters of the League and of the center-right, in the opposition, see an opportunity in these elections to send a notice to the Government.

As happened in 2016 when Renzi had to resign, the vote has once again become a plebiscite against the Government, beyond what the ballots indicate.

Doubts

The situation, however, is complicated.

Some of the parties that make up the axis of the right had in their program the cutting of parliamentarians and voted in favor of executing it a few months ago in Parliament.

For consistency, they say, they will maintain their position, but with nuances.

Fabio Rampelli, vice president of the Chamber of Deputies and a member of the far-right Fratelli D'Italia (Brothers of Italy), believes that the reform raises doubts.

“If it were organic, we would have it clearer.

But as it is designed, it will leave some territories of Italy without parliamentary representation.

And that is a damage.

I will vote in coherence with what I did in Parliament, but with many doubts, "he says.

An idea that spreads strongly among the voters of his formation.

Political analysts, like Roberto D'Alimonte, see no problem in the cut. “I will vote

. After it is operational, there are adaptations that must be made and that can be carried out without problem, such as parliamentary regulations and the number of regional representatives to elect the President of the Republic. There will not be a negative impact, on the contrary ”, he points out. If yes, in short, the reform will be a first step in the redesign of the Italian political system. Otherwise, the implications will be more political than technical.