Friday, 17 May, 2024
By: Lakshita Bhagat
Italy has witnessed 19 different governments and 14 prime ministers in the last three decades. Image Source: IANS
Further, Italy is a democratic republic with a written constitution, where the role of the president is only ceremonial. However, during a political crisis, the president assumes extreme significance in picking the PM candidate and breaking the deadlock
Giorgia Meloni has been appointed as the new prime minister of Italy. On 22nd October, she is set to be sworn in as the country’s first female prime minister who will lead the country’s most right-wing government since World War II. Simultaneously, another big European country is preparing to appoint its new prime minister- the UK, as Liz Truss resigned amidst roaring criticism against her economic plans.
While Italy usually has been labelled as the most unstable European country regarding its politics, it appears the UK has left Italy behind. The race within the Conservative party is on in the UK to appoint its third prime minister in three months. Against this backdrop, comparisons between the two countries become inevitable given how frequently Italy has changed its governments and prime ministers. For instance, Italy has witnessed 19 different governments and 14 prime ministers in the last three decades. That is every prime minister after a couple of years and a new government every 18 months on average. It is no surprise that Meloni will head the 68th government in 76 years (since 1946). That UK has become like Italy is frequently appearing across the British media platforms, with the recent cover of The Economist donning the title ‘Welcome to Britaliy’.
UK and Italy since 2005
On the face of it, Italy appears as an unstable political system (see chart above). But what exactly is happening? According to many, the comparison between UK and Italy is not fair. It is largely because of their political and institutional cultures and structural design differences. To start with, Italy’s electoral system, primarily based on proportional representation, results in several parties coming together to form a coalition government. Italy has a history of being run by grand coalitions. The new Italian government is also a coalition government, just like the previous one. The system has been designed to avoid the concentration of power in one party or person for too long. Therefore, what is seen as instability is actually how the system works. Parties with different views are more likely to face legislative roadblocks, ultimately leading to the government's fall. In contrast, the UK has the first-past-the-post system, which is generally seen to provide stable government since small parties do not find representation and ultimately are not part of the government.
Further, Italy is a democratic republic with a written constitution, where the role of the president is only ceremonial. However, during a political crisis, the president assumes extreme significance in picking the PM candidate and breaking the deadlock. The constitution, which the constitutional court upholds, is binding on the people and government.
The situation in the UK is certainly difficult to be compared to Italy. While the political instability in Italy is linked to structural factors, the current instability in the UK is partly its own doing, leaving aside the effects of the Covid and Ukraine crises on food and energy costs. It is hard to deny that Brexit continues to cast a long shadow on the economy, further embattled by the Covid restrictions. But the political mismanagement of the economy is the real culprit. Contrastingly, Italy currently is not in an economic mess like the UK and is considered far more stable than the latter. Additionally, being part of the EU, Italy is subject to rigorous budgetary approvals and will receive the Covid bailout fund.
The UK has created a new record for shortest serving PM even by Italian standard (Liz Truss- 45 days in 2022 vs Amintore Fanfani- 102 in 1954). If the UK does not contain political and economic instability, it may set new standards of political instability, unlike Italy, where frequent change of government is considered an integral part of the system.
