Meloni's coalition fractures over electoral reform in secret ballot

The Italian government lost a key vote on electoral reform on Tuesday after MPs from Meloni's own coalition rejected a crucial amendment by secret ballot, according to the Guardian and the BBC. The defeat marked the second major parliamentary setback for the Prime Minister this year and triggered immediate opposition calls for her resignation. The secret-ballot mechanism—which allowed MPs to vote without public accountability—exposed fractures within the ruling coalition that Meloni had sought to conceal.

The electoral reform was a flagship policy for Meloni's government, intended to reshape Italy's parliamentary system. The nature of the defeat—with her own MPs voting against her in a hidden ballot—revealed the fragility of her majority and the existence of what Italian political discourse calls 'franchi tiratori' (free shooters), MPs willing to undermine their own government's agenda. The Guardian reported that opposition parties immediately seized on the result to call for new elections, setting the stage for intensified political turbulence before the 2027 general election.