Italienska börsnerver sviker inför folkomröstning

A constitutional referendum is planned to be held in Italy on Sunday 4 December 2016. Voters are to be asked whether they approve of amending the Italian Constitution to reform the appointment and powers of the Parliament of Italy, as well as the partition of powers of State, Regions, and administrative entities. The constitutional bill, proposed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his centre-left Democratic Party in 2014, was approved by an absolute majority of the MPs in both houses of the Italian Parliament. In accordance with article 138 of the Constitution, a referendum may be called within three months of the publication of the law in the Gazzetta Ufficiale (Official Gazette) if, as in this case, the law has not been approved in the second voting by a qualified majority of two-thirds in each house. This will be the third constitutional referendum in the history of the Italian Republic: the other two were in 2001 and 2006. The bill was first introduced by the government in the Senate on 8 April 2014. After several amendments by both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, the bill received its first approval on 13 October 2015 (Senate) and 11 January 2016 (Chamber), and, eventually, its second and final approval on 20 January 2016 (Senate) and 12 April 2016 (Chamber). Should the electors approve the bill, it would achieve the most extensive constitutional reform in Italy since the end of the monarchy, not only influencing the organization of the Parliament, but also improving, according to its proponents, on the poor government stability of the country. Opposition parties have harshly criticised the bill, claiming that it is badly written and that it will make the government too powerful.