The bill, currently guided by Emanuele Fiano of the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD), is the fruit of a deal between former premier Matteo Renzi's PD, the anti-establishment Five Star movement (M5S), Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right opposition party Forza Italia (FI), and the right-wing populist Northern League.
The “Fianum” is no longer modelled on the German electoral system previously discussed, but instead resembles the system that was in force in Italy from 1948 to 1992, experts said.
For the first time since then, the same system holds for both houses of parliament.
The deal between Italy's top four parties on the new election law is holding up to pressure and criticism and the bill is expected to be passed on schedule by both houses of parliament by the end of the first week of July.
On the weekend, the Constitutional Affairs Committee considered amendments regarding the Lower House.
Among other things, they cut the number of constituencies from 303 to 225 and abolished the highly criticised "blocked" lists which completely prevent voters from picking their representatives.
The PD, M5S, FI and Northern League also approved an amendment quashing the possibility of standing in more than one constituency.
In each constituency, those elected will be the ones who come first, followed by the top-ranking candidates on the list attached to each party.
A deal was also made between the major parties on gender equality, agreeing that 40 per cent of the candidates at the top of the party lists must be women.
The parties also rejected a proposal by the small centre-right Popular Area (AP) party that would have lowered the entry bar from 5 per cent.
On Monday, the Constitutional Affairs Committee turned their attention towards amendments regarding the Upper House.
The panel cut the number of Senate constituencies from 150 to 112.
It also approved gender quotas and a halt to multiple candidacies, as it had done for the Lower House on the weekend.
Political sources said that the other main issue to be resolved in the Senate is the number of signatures required for the presentation of lists and candidates.
Opinion polls currently indicate that, under a proportional representative system like the one proposed, the election result would be inconclusive even if parties form coalitions, meaning a post-election deal between major parties would be almost inevitable.
With ANSA
