Amato promotes the Stabilicum: “I think it could work”

“Many of my fellow constitutional experts are playing the same old game with this electoral law that the Italian Communist Party used to play: ‘Anything I don’t like is unconstitutional’. But that’s not true,” said Giuliano Amato, former Prime Minister and former President of the Constitutional Court, in an interview with Maurizio Crippa at Il Foglio’s ‘Festa dell’Ottimismo’. “I hear people say: ‘The majority bonus is in the Senate; it should go to the individual regions, whereas here it is arranged differently’. But I hope that the Constitutional Court will finally rule that this is nonsense. Because either we say that the majority bonus is inadmissible – but no one has said that, and indeed the Court has ruled that it is admissible – or, if it is admissible, it becomes inadmissible to use it in such a way that it does not produce the same majority in both chambers.”

Still on the subject of the constitutionality of the new electoral law, he explained: “The Prime Minister’s recommendation – which isn’t even on the ballot paper – is a political recommendation, for goodness’ sake. Just like the recommendation made by the group leaders consulted by the President of the Republic after the elections, who will then have to choose the person they put forward. If there is one thing that deserves criticism, it is the issue of the number of signatures required per constituency, which has risen from 1,500 to 6,000. It is a spiteful move against someone, bordering on the unreasonable. Otherwise, it is an electoral law that could work.”

On the recent Nobel Prize just won by Navi Pillay, he expressed his support: “I can do anything except oppose the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to a legal expert whom I know, who chairs an international commission against the death penalty of which I am also a member. And I can confirm that she did not receive the Nobel Prize solely for her investigation into Gaza, but for a life dedicated to human rights and the defence of peace.” He then added, on the subject of the conflict: “I am not one of those who would ever use the term ‘genocide’ to describe what happened in Gaza. I would use terms that evoke the history of Judaism less, but which indicate a contempt for the human lives of children. I hope Netanyahu is replaced soon: Israel is a great democracy that has lost its character because of this man.”

Regarding extremism in Europe, Amato expressed his concern: “We have a major problem in France and Germany, where the far right is on the rise. It must be acknowledged, however, that the Italian centre-right has shifted towards the European ‘mainstream’. That far-right extremism which, in other countries, risks gaining a majority – as in France – or is approaching 30 per cent – as in Germany – is, in Italy, limited to General Vannacci. The Italian centre-right has distanced itself from those extreme positions to such an extent that it has left a space which, fortunately, someone else has filled, thereby creating a clear distinction.” According to the former prime minister, “Europe will not be able to change its position on Ukraine, and perhaps it will find a point of reference in Italy. Do Schlein and Meloni both agree on Ukraine? Just don’t point it out to them, otherwise they’ll find a way to disagree.”

Finally, speaking about the political crisis in France, Amato said: “For decades, the country has lived under the threat of the far right, which the Le Pen family – particularly the daughter – has managed to strengthen over the years by exploiting, before any other country did, feelings of discontent, irritation and alienation. These are, in fact, the very same sentiments that created the MAGA majority in the United States and fuelled other populist right-wing movements across Europe”. He then added: “France has always had leaders capable of building a ‘republican arc’, bringing all the other parties together. Today, it seems to have disappeared: that is the problem." On the prospects of stemming Marine Le Pen's rise, he concluded: "The inability of Melenchon and the Socialists to reach an agreement is insurmountable, combined with the centre's failure to create a framework in which they could participate. Perhaps Philippe, it is said, might succeed; perhaps he is the last hope. But if he fails, France will have its first far-right president."