Barry Sweeney analyses the recent attempts by Giorgia Melloni’s party to criminalise dissent and maximise fascist control in the Italian parliament. Sweeney paints a terrifying picture of one of the most egregiously anti-democratic lurches on the European continent today.
The Italian Constitution, enacted on January 1, 1948, contains several features explicitly designed to prevent the resurgence of fascism and to promote democratic values. These features collectively ensure that Italy’s political system remains democratic and resilient against any attempts to revive fascist ideologies or practices. Alarmingly though, Giorgia Meloni’s far right government is making moves to dismantle these democratic characteristics which act as a safeguard against authoritarianism.
Meloni’s Anti-Gandhi Law
As a result of its Anti-Fascist origins, the Italian Constitution guarantees fundamental civil liberties, including freedom of speech, assembly, and association (Articles 13-21). At the time of writing the Constitution in post-war Italy, these rights were seen as being essential in preventing the suppression of dissent and the establishment of a totalitarian regime.
Attempts to gag the people though are presently afoot. Meloni’s government currently has a majority in both Houses of Parliament and as a result of this on Thursday the 27th of June 2024 the Chamber of Deputies passed Meloni’s government’s new security bill, in which Article 11 needs particular attention.
This Article, dubbed the “anti-Gandhi law”, will punish people who block traffic with a prison sentence ranging from six months to two years, without the alternative of a financial penalty. That is to say, the Anti-Gandhi Law prevents dissent by making it illegal. Want to march for Palestine? You will be treated as a criminal not a citizen, and prison is the only option. Want to march for abortion rights? Sexual freedom rights? Gender rights? Meloni’s government thinks there is only one place for you.
Voiced opposition to the law has not been scarce. The head of the Green Europe-Green Alliance Devis Dori said that “this measure was written by someone who had a truncheon in his hand, not a pen”. He went on to say that it is “madness that compresses the right to demonstrate, from today (an act of) nonviolence (to tomorrow) is a crime.”It “could lead to imprisonment of even students who organize a sit-in in front of the school which is an appalling repression of the right to demonstrate” the Democratic Party has criticized.
Granted outright parliamentary control
The people though are not the only people being bypassed as the parliament and senators are also being marginalised. This is despite the fact that the Italian Constitution supports a multiparty system, promoting political pluralism and preventing the monopolization of power by a single party as seen during the fascist era.
Under Meloni’s Premierato proposal however, the Party or Coalition with the highest percentage of votes in an election, even if it is only 20 percent, will be granted outright parliamentary control through a system of ‘bonus seats’. It will mean importing MPs into parliament that people never directly voted for, giving the largest coalition the required 55 percent share of the seats in parliament and thus ensuring free rein to push through their agenda even with a minority of votes. The proposal echoes Mussolini’s famous Acerbo Law which granted a two thirds majority to the party with the most votes, even if it only won 25 percent of the votes.
Avoiding Presidential Checks and Balances
Despite these worrying developments, there is yet a safeguard-the Italian President. The Italian President has several key roles and powers that enable the protection of the Constitution. The President is a crucial check and balance within the Italian political system, protecting the Constitution and maintaining the integrity of the country’s democratic institutions.
The President can refuse to sign laws if he/she believes a law is unconstitutional and can send it back to the parliament for reconsideration forcing further discussion and more rigorous debate. The President has the power to dissolve one or both houses of Parliament if he/she deems an action from the government unconstitutional as happened when Matteo Salvini closed the Italian ports to immigrants in 2019. The President can call new elections, and/or choose a new Prime Minister that the parliament must then vote on.
Meloni’s Premierato threatens all this. The Premierato is designed to give more power to the Prime Minister at the sacrifice of of all the other powers in the Republic. Under Meloni’s proposal, the premier would have the power to dissolve parliament not the president of the Republic; select a second premier from the same majority in the case of a cabinet crisis, or call for new elections.
Another concentration of power can be seen in the proposed changes to the election process. Up until now, the public elects MPs in elections, the Prime Minister is then proposed by the winning parties and finally formally approved by the President of the Republic. Under Meloni’s Premierato proposal however, the Prime Minister will be directly elected through the elections, thus avoiding the need to be proposed by the Parliament and approved by the President.
Institutionalising Inequality
Through these devices (The Anti-Gandhi Law and the Premierato) Meloni is in the process of accumulating and concentrating power while at the same time limiting public freedoms and rights. Article 3 is an example of this.
It ensures all citizens have equal social dignity and are equal before the law, countering the fascist regime’s discriminatory policies. Unsurprisingly, Meloni’s far-right party which is rooted in historical fascism, is threatening this social equity. This threat to national unity and equality is being manifested through the the Regional Autonomy Bill which is also known as the ‘Split Italy Law’. It grants regional governments unheard of independence, at the expense of national solidarity and equality. Equal services will not be provided to all citizens.
The Split Italy Law institutionalises inequality. It will allow each region to invest in its own health infrastructure, education systems, transport systems and many other fundamental areas of public life. As a result the more wealthy regions will be able to invest more, while the poorer, more rural areas with smaller budgets will be limited and in turn be less able to offer fundamental services. It will deny health and other essential services to millions of citizens. The rights to health, which Art. 32 of the Constitution defines as “fundamental”, will no longer be guaranteed in conditions of equality in any part of the national territory. The rights to education guaranteed through Art. 5 of the Constitution will be similarly affected.
Power grab to what end?
The ‘Split Italy Law’ will only be the beginning of openly fascist laws if Giorgia Meloni’s “mother of all reforms” (the Premierato), as she calls it, becomes law.
The Premierato is a power grab that threatens the very essence of democracy and equality. In an Authoritarian state, there is no opposition, or at least the opposition is silenced, persecuted, and marginalised, as Giorgia is trying to do by reducing the power of the president, the parliament, and the people.
The optics of a muzzle are not good. The foreshadows of an authoritarian regime can be seen. Gone will be the days when Parliament had to approve a law. Gone will be the voices of the people’s representatives, and the people’s voices themselves. MPs will no longer be able to cast a vote of no confidence in the government. The President will no longer be able to give his/her valuable contribution. Whatsmore, Meloni’s government presently has a majority in both Houses of Parliament thus giving her the ability to push this program through.
It has already passed a first round of votes in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, the two houses of the Italian parliament, and is due for a second, final round.
Opposition
The Premierato is not without its detractors and critics. The leader of the Democratic Party, Elly Schein, says that “The premierato is not democracy anymore, it weakens parliament and the head of the state [i.e., the president’s office]”. The Five Star Movement has stated that they “ will resolutely oppose this massacre, we will defend the Italian Constitution”. While Roberta Calvano, constitutional law professor at Rome’s prestigious Sapienza University, states that “90 percent of constitutionalists have criticized the reform, even some of those closer to the government”.
Controlling the narrative
Meloni’s government is not too bothered about criticism and outcry though. Since the 2022 election the Italian public broadcaster RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana) has been pressured by the Meloni government to broadcast journalism uncritical of the government. Rai journalists went on strike for media freedom in May, after episodes of blatant censorship and propaganda and purges of nonaligned journalists. Rai has even received the title of “Tele-Meloni” given its lack of independence.
Considering all these things, the poorly informed are being led to believe positive falsities about the government and its policies; those who are better informed and want to protest have been made criminals through the Anti Gandhi Law; elected officials are either terrified to open their mouths and so cave in to these attacks on democratic processes, or they are delighted with the new direction of things. Which leaves the President, Sergio Mattarella born in Fascist Italy in 1941, the last remaining hope of fending off the rise of Fascism in Italy for the second time.
The National Association of Italian Partisans, whose historical predecessors defeated Mussolini, have grimly admitted “hard times are coming, we are in the middle of the night”. While veteran journalist Natalia Aspesi fears the return of the strong leader, and on her ninety-fifth birthday told La Repubblica: “I was born and I will die under fascism.” Let’s hope her fears are excessive.
