Matteo Renzi's reforms are a constitutional bridge to nowhere • Libertà e Giustizia

Matteo Renzi, Italy’s prime minister, raised eyebrows last week when he suggested reviving a project to link the mainland with Sicily by building the world’s longest suspension bridge across the Strait of Messina. This multibillion-euro project is associated with Silvio Berlusconi, who promoted it during his several spells as prime minister between 1994 and 2011. The plan was dropped in 2013 on account of its cost, the strait’s vulnerability to earthquakes and the danger that mafia clans would fatten themselves on construction contracts.

Why does Mr Renzi, who criticised the bridge in 2012 as a waste of money, claim now to see its merits? One answer lies in the risks to his premiership from a referendum on constitutional reforms to be held on December 4. By hinting at the relaunch of a project dear to Mr Berlusconi’s heart, the centre-left Mr Renzi aims to reduce the incentive of Berlusconi loyalists and other centre-right forces to topple him in the event that he should lose the referendum.

Whether it makes sense to build a bridge above the waves where, 3,000 years ago, Homer imagined the monsters Scylla and Charybdis attacking Odysseus is a matter for debate. The larger point is that, contrary to Mr Renzi’s assertions, the proposed constitutional reforms would do little to improve the quality of government, lawmaking and politics. The powers of the Senate, the upper house of parliament, would be drastically curtailed in favour of the lower house. The Senate would no longer be elected by direct, popular vote but would consist mainly of regional councillors and mayors. Its membership would be cut from 315 to 100.

Mr Renzi contends that the system of government set out in Italy’s 1948 constitution is a dog’s breakfast that generates recurrent instability. At present, parliament’s two chambers have identical powers. No bill becomes law until they agree on a common text. According to the premier, this results in pointless delays that hobble well-intentioned governments, such as his own, that want to pass modernising reforms. Yet the record of postwar governments, including Mr Renzi’s, disproves his argument. Italian parliaments pass more laws year by year than those in France, Germany, the UK and the US. Despite lacking a Senate majority, Mr Renzi’s Democratic party has passed tax cuts and a labour market reform that are centrepieces of his programme.

Financial Times, 4 Ottobre 2016

Matteo Renzi’s reforms are a constitutional bridge to nowhere

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Matteo Renzi’s reforms are a constitutional bridge to nowhere

Difendiamo la Costituzione, i diritti e la democrazia, puoi unirti a noi, basta un piccolo contributo

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