ROME – The Chamber of Deputies’ approval of an amendment reshaping Italy’s Overseas Constituency as part of the government’s electoral reform has sparked a fresh political battle over the representation of Italians living abroad.
The vote has drawn a strong response from the Democratic Party (PD), which argues the changes will fundamentally alter the relationship between elected representatives and Italian communities overseas.
The amendment approved by the governing majority redraws the current structure of the Overseas Constituency, reducing the number of electoral districts for the Chamber of Deputies from four to two, while creating a single worldwide constituency for Senate elections.
The reform abandons the existing model, which is based on the geographical distribution of Italian communities around the world. While supporters say the changes are intended to streamline the electoral system, critics argue they will weaken territorial representation and favour regions with larger voting populations.
Among the strongest critics is Democratic Party MP Nicola Carè, elected in the Asia, Africa, Oceania and Antarctica constituency, who described the vote in the Lower House as “a serious breach”.
“This is not simply a technical amendment to the Overseas Constituency,” Carè said. “It is a genuine distortion of democratic representation.”
According to Carè, reducing the Chamber’s overseas districts while turning “the entire planet into a single constituency for the Senate” effectively erases territorial representation by determining who will be able to represent overseas Italians, even though the total number of parliamentary seats allocated to Italians abroad formally remains unchanged.
In his view, maintaining the existing 12 overseas parliamentary seats without ensuring representatives remain closely connected to their communities would preserve only the appearance of the current system while stripping it of its real purpose.
The Labor MP argued that smaller Italian communities overseas risk being progressively marginalised, while larger and better organised electorates would inevitably dominate the election of overseas representatives.
As a result, areas such as Africa, Asia, Oceania, North America and other regions considered strategically important for Italy could eventually lose meaningful parliamentary representation.
Carè also raised constitutional concerns, arguing that the reform presents “a serious and concrete constitutional issue.”
Referring to Article 48 of the Italian Constitution, he said the voting rights of Italians living abroad cannot be reduced to merely receiving and casting a ballot, but must also guarantee effective representation.
Under his interpretation, an Italian voter living in Australia would effectively compete in the same electoral district as millions of voters spread across several continents, without any representative specifically linked to their geographical area. That, he argued, would undermine the principle of effective representation protected by the Constitution.
Carè also cited rulings of Italy’s Constitutional Court, noting that electoral laws must not unreasonably compromise either the representative nature of Parliament or voters’ ability to meaningfully influence the election of their representatives.
The MP further claimed the reform was politically motivated, arguing the centre-right government had chosen to rewrite the electoral rules after failing to build sufficient support in some overseas regions.
He concluded by expressing hope that the Senate would remove the provision approved by the Chamber and restore the current four-district model. Failing that, he said, the Democratic Party would continue to challenge the reform both politically and on constitutional grounds.
Democratic Party Senator Francesco Giacobbe, who represents the Africa–Asia–Oceania–Antarctica constituency, echoed Carè’s concerns, describing the Lower House vote as a direct attack on the representation of Italians living across vast areas of the world.
“The government has chosen to undermine the democratic representation of Italians living abroad by diminishing the voice of millions of our fellow citizens,” Giacobbe said, calling the amendment’s approval “an extremely serious decision.”
According to the senator, the communities most affected would be those across Asia, Africa, Oceania and Antarctica, where grouping vastly different continents into a single electoral district would inevitably distance elected representatives from voters and further weaken their ability to represent communities with very different needs.
In his view, the new electoral model would strengthen party organisations at the expense of voters, further eroding the direct relationship between overseas MPs and the communities they represent.
Giacobbe concluded with a warning to the government, saying those who supported the amendment “have voted against the representation of Italians living in Asia, Africa, Oceania and Antarctica.” He added that both the opposition and Italians abroad themselves would remember that decision when they are next called to the polls.
