MPs and senators will return from their summer recess on 9 September. The key issues when Parliament resumes will be the electoral law – with the issue of preferential votes – and the budget, with discontent even amongst some members of the ruling coalition over defence spending

The leader of the Five Star Movement has realised, like Meloni, that the electoral stability law is turning into a purely proportional system. Graziano Delrio: “No coalition will manage to reach 42 per cent. No one will get the majority bonus and everyone will want to stand on their own.”

Why the proposal to lower the threshold from 5 to 3 per cent is causing a rift in the consensus on a rule that has remained unchanged for seventy years

The former President of the Senate analyses all the objections that have been raised regarding the reform and urges people not to confuse their own political interests with institutional legitimacy

The compromise reached two days ago at the centre-right ‘sherpa’ summit has caused fresh unease amongst female MPs across the political spectrum. The agreement reached is seen as a smokescreen by those who do not feel ‘sufficiently protected’

A summit at the Fratelli d’Italia headquarters eases tensions within the coalition: in the Senate, the majority will also table the amendment presented in the Chamber of Deputies to introduce preferential voting, with a single amendment to further strengthen gender parity

The President of the Veneto Regional Council: “Extend the scope of self-defence only where psychological stress is involved. The jeweller’s case is a textbook example. He sought confrontation without protecting himself.” On the North and the “party of the nostalgic”, he says: “Salvini never said those things. The North and South are inextricably linked.” A ‘yes’ to preferential voting

Seeking greater stability is helpful. Having Vannacci around is a problem. An analysis by economist Lorenzo Codogno