Italy Votes to Eliminate One-Third of Country's Lawmakers in Rebuke of Political Elites
Italians overwhelmingly voted to approve a constitutional amendment this week which reduces the number of lawmakers in both chambers of its national parliament by one-third.
An awkward coalition between Italy's center-left Democratic Party and the anti-establishment 5 Star Movement party are claiming victory after a referendum held Sunday and Monday saw 70 percent of voters approve the massive reduction in government positions. The move is set to reduce the size of Italy's lower Chamber of Deputies from 630 elected members down to 400. The upper Senate chamber will cut 115 total lawmaker positions to go from 315 to 200 available seats.
Supporters of the large-scale elimination of national government positions said Italy's parliament contained far too many lawmakers who were sitting on high salaries, expense accounts, taxpayer-paid limousines and very little actual legislation. About 52 million people were eligible to vote in this week's referendum, which has still only posted preliminary voting totals.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Italy's Parliament rejected a proposal that would have cut lawmakers' salaries in half. Italian lawmakers are paid around $11,773 each month (€10,000), which is 50 percent higher than their counterparts in the British government.
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