The constitutional reform providing for direct election of the Prime Minister: the so-called ‘premierato’

The article outlines the progress of the constitutional reform providing for direct election of the Prime Minister, noting that the constitutional reform bill presented by the Meloni government was approved by the Senate in June 2024, with a series of amendments, and is now under review by the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. The article then examines the reform’s main objectives, and the means employed to achieve what amounts to the introduction of a form of government largely unknown in other political systems: one often referred to as a ‘premierato’. The article then considers the issue of the electoral law, which is closely linked to the constitutional reform and affects both its implementation—through a specific transitional provision —and, even more crucially, its likely approval in Parliament.