ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2020) Italy's Constitutional Court rejected on Thursday a bid by the right-wing run regions to call a referendum to change the electoral system, which would have put the League in charge.
The League enjoys the most support in Italy. It campaigned for a switch from a mixed system to a first-past-the-post one, in which a candidate wins a constituency by securing a simple majority.
"The request was declared inadmissible," the court said in a press release, adding that the outcome of such a referendum would be prone to "excessive manipulation."
League leader Matteo Salvini took to Twitter to slam the judgment as a return to "prehistory of the worst Italian politics."
"It is a disgrace, it is the old system defending itself: Democrats and M5S will remain attached to their seats. We are sorry that the people are not allowed to decide," he wrote.
Italy uses a voting system in which less than a third of parliamentary seats is allocated using the first-past-the-post method, while the rest of lawmakers are appointed using proportional representation.
A new general election is not expected before 2023 but the ruling coalition of Democrats and the M5S anti-establishment party said they were working on a reform that would switch Italy to a purely proportional representation system.
