Italy’s government suffered a surprising defeat in a budget vote in parliament. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s legal alliance failed to achieve an absolute majority in the House of Representatives on Thursday for a financial plan that should free up several billion euros to relieve the burden on citizens.
Because 25 members of the coalition were missing from the smaller of the two chambers of parliament, the government’s proposal received only 195 votes in favor – 201 would have been necessary to pass it.
With the so-called economic and financial document (Def), Meloni’s government wanted to reallocate 3.4 billion euros, among other things. This should reduce non-wage labor costs for almost 14 million employees and self-employed in Italy. At first it was unclear what the rejection of the House of Representatives actually meant for the project.
In the recent past, no such financial plan introduced by the majority in Parliament had failed. A council of ministers was convened spontaneously for Thursday evening.
Opposition politicians accused the government’s parties of failure. They urged Meloni to go to President Sergio Mattarella for advice after the defeat.
In Italy, prime ministers always do this when their government is in serious trouble. Meloni actually wanted to pass a new decree on Monday, Labor Day, for further financial support for workers. This could now possibly burst.
Economics and Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said after the failure of the vote that this was not a political vote, but that some MPs had not correctly assessed the situation. He meant the many absences.
Other politicians in the government majority indicated that the financial plan would now have to be modified somewhat in order to present it again to parliament. The opposition, in turn, warned against only making cosmetic changes to the text and then trying again. (dpa)
