Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition government has lost a crucial vote on an amendment to electoral reform, a significant setback ahead of next year's general election.

In a secret ballot in Italy's lower house of parliament on Wednesday evening, MPs rejected a proposal spearheaded by her party, Brothers of Italy (FdI), by 188 votes to 187, indicating that several of Meloni's MPs voted against the amendment.

In an angry post on social media after the vote, Meloni described the result as "a missed opportunity for Italians." She added, "The opposition celebrating as if they had won the World Cup, for preventing citizens from choosing their parliamentarians says it all."

Meloni did not address calls from the opposition to resign and bring forward the general election, currently planned for autumn 2027.

The proposed reform would see Italy move to a fully proportional system which would award a bonus to the party or coalition with the largest share of the vote, even if they fall short of a majority. Coalitions would also be required to agree on a common platform and a single prime ministerial candidate.

The rejected amendment was a provision on preference voting, allowing voters to choose preferred candidates from a list. The government can continue to press ahead with the rest of the electoral reform.

Meloni has argued the reform would result in less shaky government coalitions and greater stability. But opposition parties criticized it as "authoritarian" and an attempt to secure a majority in next year's election.

Since 2022, Meloni has led a coalition government of centre-right and right-wing parties. But tensions within the coalition have increased as parties' popularity declined, culminating in Tuesday's defeat.

Centre-left and left-wing opposition parties are preparing to form a united front against Meloni next year. They already teamed up successfully in a campaign against a government-backed referendum in the spring.

To win a safer majority, Meloni will have to broaden her appeal either to the centre or towards more extremist groups, such as Roberto Vannacci's fledgling National Future (FN), which polls at around 6%.

Bar an early vote, if elections are held in September 2027, Meloni will be the first Italian prime minister to have governed for a whole term with just one government since 1946.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk