The Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Italian Senate concluded, this Tuesday, 14th, the examination of the Decree-Law 36 on citizenship, determining that the rapporteur initiate the discussion in plenary.
However, the vote was marked by a significant absence: the Lega, the party led by the deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, did not participate.
The acronym's stance was interpreted in Roma as a political signal. Salvini disagrees with many of the amendments that restrict access to Italian citizenship for descendants born abroad. For him, the law needs to be revised, but not in the way it was presented.
“It is a relevant political fact, which demonstrates how much the decree does not satisfy even those who promoted it,” said the senator. Francesco Giacobbe, elected abroad by the Democratic Party (PD). According to him, the text is “confusing and unbalanced”.
Behind the scenes in Roman politics, there is a growing perception that the Lega could be the deciding factor in the final vote. Alongside the party, the support of the MAIE parliamentarians (Associative Movement Italiani all'Estero), also from the government's base, can consolidate the votes needed to change the text.
After the rejection of the amendment that required a certificate of proficiency in Italian (level B1) to maintain citizenship, new articulations began to be made by members of the Lega. Among them is the former deputy Luis Roberto Lorenzato.
“We managed to reject it. What a struggle. We also managed to remove the word ‘nato in Italia’ from the text. Now we are fighting to remove the word ‘exclusively Italian citizen’,” said Lorenzato, referring to the section that threatens the rights of Italian descendants with dual citizenship.
The group's proposal is to replace the expression "exclusively Italian" with "ius sanguinis", a legal term that recognizes the right to citizenship by descent. If approved, the change would benefit Brazilians with Italian citizenship acquired through family inheritance.
Lorenzato is discussing the changes with the Lega leadership and confirmed that the issue will be brought up in a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Senator Matteo Salvini. The meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday, May 14.
The decree-law that toughens the recognition of Italian citizenship It has been in force since March 28, but it needs to be approved by Parliament – Senate and Chamber – within 60 days to become definitive. In other words, it needs to be approved by May 26. Otherwise, it loses its validity.
It is worth remembering that, in addition to the differences in the amendments and in decree-law 36, Salvini has been at odds with fellow deputy prime minister Antonio Tajani, author of the decree, on several other issues within the Meloni government.
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