The Grand and General Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale) has approved a reform of its own Rules of Procedure by 36 votes to 11. At the heart of the measure is a strengthening of the committees’ drafting role, which will become the main venue for examining articles and discussing amendments. The full Council will retain the general debate and final approval, with the possibility of intervening again only on the parts that have been amended.
During the examination, however, the majority backtracked on some of the most contested points. Both the reduction in time allowed for explanations of vote and the shortened limit on councillors’ speeches were scrapped. What remains is the cutoff clause on the budget law after 25 hours of discussion, one of the aspects most criticised by the opposition. Also approved was the rule allowing the finance bill to enter into force from its date of publication, if expressly stated in the text, so as to avoid provisional exercise of the budget.
On the transparency front, the live streaming of public committee sessions was confirmed, while radio broadcasts may be requested by at least three committee members. Each parliamentary group will also be able to appoint an alternate member, ensuring its presence even when the regular member is absent. The Council also gave the green light to the possibility of introducing sanctions for those who breach the councillors’ Code of Conduct.
Agreement was finally reached on how the new rules will apply: the reform will also cover bills already tabled, but only if they have not yet entered the council process and have not been discussed at first reading — an amendment born out of talks between the majority and the opposition.
In the final vote, RF, Rete and D-ML reaffirmed their opposition. Nicola Renzi fears councillors will be reduced to mere “button-pushers”, while Gaetano Troina argues that shifting the work to committees will cause a loss of expertise and the ability to amend texts directly in the chamber. Emanuele Santi spoke of a curtailment of the right to speak, objecting above all to the cutoff clause on the budget.
Defending the reform was Gian Nicola Berti (AR), the majority’s rapporteur, who argued that the new system is needed to overcome delays and distortions that have long slowed parliamentary work. Berti acknowledged that certain freedoms are being curtailed, but maintained that council tools have often been used excessively. The majority’s position is clear: general political choices will be debated in the chamber, while the technical work on legislation will be entrusted to the committees.
