The President of the Council, Giorgia Meloni, opens her speech at the convention “The Constitution of all. Dialogue on the premiership” by stating that the Constitution belongs to everyone and touches everyone. She believes that it is a mistake to approach these issues with an ideological approach, which she sees as the prevailing orientation in the debate. Meloni emphasizes the need for political stability and states that the premiership should maintain the fundamental powers of the President of the Republic while removing the function of acting as a substitute for a politics that is incapable of making decisions on behalf of the President of the Republic. She emphasizes the importance of safeguarding the institutions of guarantee, starting with the impartial referee function of the Head of State.
Meloni further highlights the importance of ensuring that those chosen by the people to govern can do so with a full legislative term, allowing them to implement the program they presented to the citizens. She believes that time and stability are crucial for building any strategy and restoring credibility to institutions in the eyes of the people and international partners. Meloni hopes that the premiership will be approved by Parliament with a two-thirds majority, but if that does not happen, the decision will be left to the Italian people through a referendum, as provided by the Constitution.
Meloni warns that if the reform is not approved by two-thirds of parliamentary votes, a divisive referendum will be held, as envisioned by the founding fathers of the Constitution. She stresses that the reform is not about her or President Mattarella personally but about shaping a hypothetical future. Meloni criticizes the personalization of the issue and calls for a focus on the substance of the debate rather than making it about individuals. She believes that a good service to the nation would be to accompany the premiership with an electoral law that strengthens the relationship between the elected and the electorate, advocating for the reintroduction of preference votes.
Several well-known figures from the entertainment industry and sports world attended the convention, including Iva Zanicchi, TV host Pupo, actress Claudia Gerini, singer Amedeo Minghi, former Italian swim champion Filippo Magnini, Tunisian film producer Tarak Ben Ammar, and manager Pietro Salini. Overall, Meloni stresses the importance of political stability and government coherence in the current international context, highlighting that the government she leads is stable and doesn’t necessarily require the proposed reform for her. However, she views the reform as a risk that she is willing to take for the benefit of the country’s democratic processes.
