(Bloomberg) — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government will make a second attempt to win authorization for extra deficit spending on Friday after its initial try suffered an embarrassing defeat in Parliament.
(Bloomberg) — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government will make a second attempt to win authorization for extra deficit spending on Friday after its initial try suffered an embarrassing defeat in Parliament.
A hastily assembled cabinet meeting on Thursday evening in Rome agreed to submit a fresh request for funds without changing the existing plan for 2023. Ministers agreed on a new report accompanying the proposal in order to seek another vote by lawmakers.
The budget’s earlier defeat in the Chamber of Deputies cast an uncomfortable light on the authority of Meloni’s six-month-old right-wing coalition, prompting the opposition politicians to question the government’s legitimacy.
The loss was arguably self-inflicted as too few coalition lawmakers were present to pass the bill. It needed 201 votes and got only 195. Abstentions totaled 105, while 19 opposed it.
Meloni herself was out of town on a visit to London to meet UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“It’s been a bad tumble, but there is no political problem,” Ansa news wire reported the premier as saying to reporters in London.
The vote in the Chamber earlier on Thursday was followed by a stunned silence and then applause from opposition MPs.
While the surprise defeat was downplayed by government officials, it is a setback, slowing down both the approval of the country’s budget and a series of measures that the coalition was counting on to help citizens starting in May, including tax breaks on salaries.
The defeat adds pressure on Meloni at a time of tensions over her government’s ability to obtain the third installment of European Union Recovery Fund cash.
Such hiccups also aren’t helpful when the Italian economy needs tax breaks and extra investments to help it return to growth this year. Moody’s Investors Service will pronounce within weeks whether Italy should get to keep its investment-grade rating.
“The governing coalition evidently doesn’t believe in its own budget,” Debora Serracchiani, a member of the opposition Democratic Party told Ansa. “This goes a long way toward showing the level of division within the right.”
–With assistance from Alberto Brambilla, Flavia Rotondi and Chiara Albanese.
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