Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Maloni and several of her cabinet officials spoke on Monday in favor of a constitutional reform under which the prime minister would be directly elected to end the country’s chronic political instability, Reuters reported.

Since World War II, Italy has had nearly 70 governments, more than twice as many as Britain and Germany, and several attempts to develop a more robust system have failed due to a lack of shared vision, Reuters noted. Agerpres.

Under current reform proposals, coalitions of prime ministerial candidates will be formed in elections to promote stability by strengthening the link between the government and the electorate.

“We have reached an agreement on the law that will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers,” Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, leader of the Forza Italia government, told the media after a meeting of the main coalition leaders.

According to some sources, the meeting will take place on Friday.

Reaction of the opposition

The main left-wing opposition groups, the 5-Star Movement and the Democratic Party, have said they will oppose the reform plans because they threaten the principles of the 1948 constitution adopted after Benito Mussolini’s dictatorship.

Other opposition groups were more willing to cooperate. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said his small centrist group Italia Viva would be ready to support direct elections for the Prime Minister.

In the current system, parties agree to form a government if none of them can claim a majority in the legislature, and the prime minister does not necessarily have to be an elected politician.

In any case, a possible change to the Constitution would have to be approved by two-thirds of lawmakers in both houses of parliament, which is difficult to imagine given the divisions in Italian politics. Otherwise, it can be confirmed by a referendum.