Politics
In the Chamber •
Electoral law: Donzelli, the ‘overseer’ of secret votes. And he attacks Conte
The head of FdI’s organisational wing, alongside Montaruli, Kelany and others, acts as a ‘watchdog’ for his MPs against mavericks. ‘For the left, it is indecent that in Italy those who secure one more vote are in charge,’ he says. And a cross appears, drawn by MP Elisabetta Lancellotta. Bignami: ‘Even the opposition voted for the bill.’
Giovanni Donzelli during his remarks on the final vote on the Electoral Law – photo: Ansa
“Conte showed a photo of Roberto Scarpinato standing next to Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone: even in paintings of the Last Supper, Judas stands next to Jesus.” This is how Giovanni Donzelli attacked the former prime minister in the Chamber of Deputies, speaking during the explanations of vote on the new electoral law. The bill was passed with 227 votes in favour: the majority withstood the secret ballot, having fallen one vote short last July. And perhaps this was also thanks to the ‘lookouts’ from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party. Donzelli himself, alongside Augusta Montaruli, Sara Kelany and many others, took his seat in the highest rows of the Chamber of Deputies at Montecitorio and, at the moment of the vote, ensured that all MPs voted in favour of the bill. There was still a risk of a few dissenting voices, and this time the price to pay would have been a return to the polls. Among the MPs, some were even seen making the sign of the cross (to give an idea of the tension): shortly before Speaker Lorenzo Fontana announced the result, MP Elisabetta Christiana Lancellotta put her trust in her faith.
The Chamber of Deputies was packed to capacity, as it is on major occasions. Donzelli’s speech stirred up the opposition. “You’re busy arguing amongst yourselves: ‘Shall we discuss the Prime Minister or the programme first?’ But your voters don’t deserve this spectacle,” said the Fratelli d’Italia MP. Regarding one of the most hotly debated issues in the new electoral bill – that of female representation (which appears to have triggered the defections last summer) – the FdI MP said: “Dear female colleagues who are defending the quotas, defending women does not mean defending the possibility for you to return to Parliament nominated by a man under the gender quotas; it means ensuring the highest possible proportion of women in office.”
“From 26 February until now,” continued Donzelli, “the opposition has found the time to attack this proposal. Meanwhile, the centre-right has increased penalties for those who attack the police, approved the housing plan, renewed contracts for doctors, nurses and police officers, and created 1.3 million jobs.” And then, amidst the opposition’s outcry: “Meanwhile, you were criticising the electoral law, as if that were the main problem facing Italians, and you’ve rallied to the defence of the ‘car tax comrade’.” He concluded: “For the Left, it is scandalous that in Italy, whoever secures one more vote should be in charge. I understand the frustration; I understand that the PD doesn’t like it – having never formed a government through the ballot box – and that Conte, who was a complete unknown, found himself in government.”
“You will not drag Italy back to political intrigues and technocratic governments. With this law, we will enter the Third Republic with a democracy of political alternation, thanks to a mature right-wing as envisaged by Pinuccio Tatarella,” Donzelli added. “We shall enter the Third Republic with a democracy that is attentive to the regions, as Umberto Bossi intended. We shall enter the Third Republic with a clear political stance, as President Berlusconi dreamed of. We shall enter the Third Republic with Italy being held in high regard around the world, as Giorgia Meloni is finally leading us towards.”
Outside the Trasatlantico Chamber, MPs celebrated the bill’s passage. Montaruli, one of the ‘leading figures’, defended the bill, including the section on women: “Today, merit and participation have triumphed. Two sacrosanct principles which, thanks to Giorgia Meloni and Fratelli d’Italia, are being reaffirmed.” The FdI group leader, Galeazzo Bignami, also spoke: “I had already anticipated that we would even secure more votes than the majority because it is a fair law; it is a law that provides stability, allowing Italians to choose the party, to choose the manifesto, to choose the coalition, to choose the candidate for Prime Minister to be proposed to the President of the Republic and, above all, for the first time in over thirty years, to choose their own MPs. It is so widely supported that even part of the opposition voted for it,” he said. The official results will provide further clarity.