Italy's government has suffered a surprising defeat in a budget vote in parliament. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing alliance fell short of an absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday for a financial plan that would free up several billion euros to relieve the burden on citizens. Because 25 members of the coalition were missing in the smaller of the two chambers of parliament, the government's proposal received only 195 votes in favour – 201 would have been needed to pass it.
With the so-called Economic and Financial Document (Def), Meloni's government wanted to reallocate 3.4 billion euros, among other things. This was intended to reduce non-wage labour costs for almost 14 million employees and self-employed people in Italy. Initially, it was unclear what the rejection of the House of Representatives would mean for the project. In the recent past, no such financial plan introduced by the majority had failed in parliament. A Council of Ministers was spontaneously convened for Thursday evening.
Opposition politicians accused the parties of the government of failure. They called on Meloni to go to President Sergio Mattarella for consultations after the defeat. In Italy, prime ministers always do this when their government is in serious crisis. Actually, Meloni wanted to pass a new decree on Monday, Labor Day, for further financial support for workers. This could now possibly burst.
Economy and Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said after the vote that this was not a political vote, but that some MEPs had not correctly assessed the situation. He was referring to the many absences. Other politicians in the government majority indicated that they would now have to modify the financial plan somewhat in order to submit it to parliament again. The opposition, on the other hand, warned against changing the text only cosmetically and then making a new attempt.