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Italian uncertainties

On April 13 and 14, Italian voters will go to the polls to elect their 62nd government in 63 years, which should be some kind of world record. The election results from the collapse in January of the fragile 20-month-old coalition led by Romano Prodi, a noted economist and former President of the European Commission. The tiny Christian Democrat party withdrew from the coalition for no sensible reason, depriving the centre-left of its parliamentary majority. Mr. Prodi annou nced he would not stand for office again. The Italian centre-left is led by Walter Veltroni, and its main opponent, an alliance of right-wing conservatives, is led by the former Prime Minister and media tycoon, Silvio Berlusconi. The centre-left has formed a single entity, the Democratic Party. For his part, Mr. Berlusconi has tried to portray himself as having moderated the flamboyant and egotistical tendencies he has shown in the past. A major uncertainty for Italy is the ability of the next elected government, whoever forms it, to revive the economy soon.

Secondly, the electoral system, which was introduced in 2005 and enables a party with one per cent of the vote to topple a government, urgently needs reform. The Christian Democrats sank Mr. Prodi’s government when a referendum on the electoral law had been approved by the Supreme Court and was due to take place on May 18. After the collapse of that shaky coalition arrangement, President Giorgio Napolitano requested the Senate president, Franco Marini, to assemble a short-term compromise government whose sole mandate would be to devise a more practical electoral system. The attempt failed for lack of agreement on an alternative system. “I regret,” Mr. Napolitano noted wanly, “having to call Italians to the vote without the reform of the electoral law.” Unsurprisingly, this suits some parties better than others. Mr. Veltroni’s Democratic Party, new and not yet as well organised as Mr. Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, would have gained had the election been postponed while a new electoral law was being drafted. Electoral systems may not be among the hottest topics in politics, but they have far-reaching implications for the composition of elected assemblies. Under Italy’s current system it is unlikely that a government dependent on tiny — and often antagonistic — coalition partners could even attempt to introduce substantial legislation and policy. That is hardly appropriate for a major European power, and Italy, a G8 member with a population of nearly 60 million, surely deserves better.

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