Italian Constitutional Court Rules Electoral Law Partially Unconstitutional

Italy's Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that the country's electoral law, adopted in 2015, is partially unconstitutional.

ROME (Sputnik) — The judges' ruling, cited by the Rainews24 television channel, cancels the holding of parliamentary elections in two rounds, but supports the idea that the party gaining at least 40 percent of the vote can count on 55 percent of the seats in the lower house of parliament.

The Court also abolished the rule, according to which the party's front-runner could run for ten elected boards at the same time, opening the way into parliament for not so popular party members, in case of securing victory in several of them.

The ruling has increased the possibility of holding snap elections in Italy.

The so-called Italicum law, which entered into force on July 1, 2016, was aimed at providing more political stability in the country by granting extra seats, and therefore an automatic majority, to the leading party in the parliament's lower house. As regards Senate, its composition is determined by a proportional voting system, which means the Italicum law could trigger a potential deadlock due to different majorities controlling the two chambers.

Italy was due to hold elections in 2018, however, on December 6, 2016, Italy's then Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said that the country could hold snap parliamentary elections in February 2017, following the resignation of the country's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi amid the failure of the government-proposed constitutional referendum. Renzi's resignation took effect on December 12, 2016.