According to the news reported by the most important press agencies, the Council of Ministers, during the past week, seems to have proceeded to approve, unanimously, the bill on constitutional reforms. It would be a "constitutional reform" teleologically aimed, according to the words of the President of the Council of Ministers, at overcoming, by setting them aside, the critical issues linked to, and directly attributable to, the concept of governability, almost as if the latter were to be traced back purely and simply to the dynamic mechanisms of the parliamentary system "strictu sensu" considered and not instead, as it would seem, to the greater or lesser crisis of the political subjects referred to by the ruling elite of the moment.

But anyway, and probably all that remains is to take note of it, only to then verify the approval of the Italian people who will be called to express their assent and/or dissent towards a reform program whose practical usefulness it would seem legitimate to doubt and whose opinion would seem be requested almost as if to want to shift the responsibility for a potential failure of the reform itself onto the People's decision (this at least would seem to be the emerging impression). Mother of all reforms, claims Giorgia Meloni, and so it remains to be hoped that she is not "mother of birth, and of wanting stepmother" (cit. G. Leopardi), to want to introduce the direct election of the prime minister by guaranteeing (but it still needs to be demonstrated) mainly both "the right of citizens to decide by whom they should be governed, putting an end to reversals, palace games and technical governments", and the "government of those chosen by the people". Well. Nothing question, if only it were not that in principle no connection would actually appear to exist between the concept of stable governability and form of government, since, if we carefully consider the problem, it would seem to arise and originate much more on the surface, since it would appear to be directly attributable rather to the crisis and internal instability of the political parties that from time to time have alternated and continue to alternate with the government majority.

If, to follow Giorgia Meloni's argument, governments go home after a year and a half, naturally there is a weakness, but that weakness does not seem to derive from the form of government and/or from the mechanisms of choice of the President of the Council of Ministers, but rather on the greater or lesser capacity of the majority parties to hold the reins of the entire system and on the capacity to provide useful answers to citizens by looking after their interests, i.e. by translating into practical and corresponding action what was announced in the electoral campaign which, if considered carefully, it constitutes the prerequisite for the victory of that and not that other political force.

Shifting the critical issue to the level of the form of government and its implementation dynamics would seem neither useful nor, much less, decisive. Rather, there would be a risk, as in fact there is a risk, of inducing even greater confusion within a complex system that is systematically balanced. Saying it also differently: since, with the mother of all reforms, the prime minister can only be "replaced" by a parliamentarian, then there will no longer be technical governments, almost as if they are a disaster to be removed and without the slightest consideration of their specific function which, if we consider it carefully, would seem to be found precisely in ensuring the so-called "governability" when it is impossible to achieve a "political" majority in parliament, and when it is necessary, as has often happened in the recent past, to face the emergency without encountering the crossed vetoes of political parties.

Indeed, there would not seem to be a commonly and unanimously accepted definition of 'governability', meaning, with such an expression, and in some way, the ability and/or possibility to govern, therefore the ability to govern of those who exercise in a given moment the government function. As always, it is a set of causes that must be referred to. And it is their multifaceted combination, different from country to country, that it is useful and appropriate to refer to in order to obtain an explanation that is as close as possible to reality. It also appears fundamental not to neglect in any way the processes of internationalization, and therefore of affirmation of attitudes, expectations, behaviors, styles of government and opposition, of control and protest, of the possibility of guiding the economy.

The constitutional reform promoted by the Meloni Government, as Giuliano Amato rightly observes, risks radically compromising the current system of government based on Parliament: the Chambers would be weakened and in fact, even if everything is taken into account, the Head of State would be drastically reduced its historic function of "guarantee". We should first ask ourselves about one point: what would be the usefulness of such a reform which would seem to have the bitter aftertaste of a decoy suitable for diverting the attention of the Italian people from the critical issues of everyday life which seems to be becoming increasingly complex and pressing? The history of the Italian Republic appears to have been characterized by constant governmental instability. And there have been numerous proposals for constitutional revision and reform of electoral laws, aimed at resolving the critical issues. However, and we should probably ask ourselves about this, every attempt seems to have ended in nothing.

Where it is not understood, and far from wanting to attribute stability to other circumstances, perhaps we should reflect on the fact that governability is always guaranteed only when the governing majority ensures rational management that is most in the interest of the lives of members. , implementing measures aimed at promoting, as far as possible, the well-being of citizens, especially in moments of greatest difficulty. Government stability is directly proportional to the governing capacity of the majority forces. Nothing more, nothing less. Therefore, it would be useful to think about governing and doing it in the best possible way, otherwise the word will be given back to the polls.

Giuseppina Di Salvatore

(Lawyer – Nuoro)

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