Overview
- A secret vote in the Chamber of Deputies rejected an amendment on allowing voters to cast preferential votes within party lists by 188 to 187, dealing the government an unexpected defeat.
- The amendment would have let voters move individual candidates up party lists with up to three preference votes, a change Fratelli d'Italia argued was needed after the planned shift toward proportional lists.
- Because the coalition has a clear majority, the result shows members of Meloni's own bloc defected in the secret ballot, revealing deeper splits in Forza Italia and Lega and recent shifts to Roberto Vannacci's new party.
- Opposition leaders immediately demanded Meloni's resignation and called for early elections, and government ministers said they will try to advance the reform without the preference-vote clause.
- This setback follows Meloni's spring referendum loss on judicial reform and makes next year's national vote more likely while raising questions about her ability to bind a fracturing right-wing coalition.